E 

51 





BooklPSbfe 



GENERAL BUTLER 



IN 



New Orleans. 




BY 



JAMES PARTON. 



BOSTON: 
RVVELL & CO., PRINTERS, 
PEARL STREET. 



"Whatever they call him, what care i I 
Aristocrat, Democrat, Autocrat, — onk 
Who can rule akd dake not lie ." — Maud. 



P^5i> 



j^u'v^.cd iiecording to Act of Congress, in the year 1S64, by 

MASON brothers, 

la the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 

In exchAnf© 
MAY 2 4 1916 



.nsui 



In this edition some of the longer documents have been omitted or abridged^ 
but the general course of the narrative remains unchanged, an(i nothing has 
been omittecJ \\hich is necessary for the understanding of the various subject* 
tieiited in the work. 



PREFACE. 



It can not be necessary to apologize for an attempt to relate tlie history of the most remarka- 
ble episode of the war, respecting which opinions so violently contradictory are expressed, both 
at home and abroad. The vindication of the country itself seems to require that a policy should, 
at least, be understood, which the country has accepted as just, wise, and humanft, and which 
the enemies of the country, foreign and domestic, denounce as arbitrary, savage, and brutal. 

It is, however, of the first necessity to state how this book came to be written, and from what 
sources its contents have been derived. 

lu common with the other devotees of the Union and the Flag, I had watched the proceedings 
of General Butler in Louisiana with interest and approval ; and shared also the indignation 
with which they regarded the perverse misinterpretation put upon his measures by the faction 
which has involved the Southern States in ruin, and by their "neutral" allies abroad. 

Upon the return of General Butler to the North, I wrote to him, saying that I should like to 
write an account of his administration of the Department of the Gulf, as well as a slighter sketch 
of the previous military career of a man who, wherever he had been employed, has shown an 
ability equal to the occasion ; but that this could not be done, and ought not to be attempted, 
without his consent and co-operation. 

To this, the general thus replied : • 

" I am too much flattered by your request, and will endeavor to give you every assistance in 
the direction you mention. My letter and order books shall be at your disposal, as well as the 
official and unofficial correspondence directed to'' me. If I can, by personal conversation, eluci- 
date many matters wherein otherwise history might be a perversion of the truth, I will be at 
your service. 

" One thing I beg shall be understoood between us, however (as I have no doubt it would 
h^vQ been without this paragraph), that while I will furnish you with every possible facility to 

I. n everything done by me in New Orleans and elsewhere, it will be upon the express condi- 
tion that you sliall report it in precisely tlie manner you may choose, without the sligbt^t sense 
of obligation ' aught to extenuate' because of the source from which you derive the material of 
your work ; and farther, that no sense of delicacy of position, in relation to myself, shall inter- 
fere with the closest investigation of every act alleged to have been done or permitted by me. 
I will only ask that upon all matters I may have the privilege of presenting to your mind the 
documentary and other evidences of the fact." 

I had not the pleasure of General Butler's personal acquaintance, but our correspondence 
ended with my going to Lowell, where I lived for a considerable time in the general's own 
house, and received from him, from his staff, and from Mrs. Butler, every kind of aid they could 
render for the work proposed. "We talked ten hours a day, and lived immersed in the multitudi- 
nous papers and letters relating to the events which have excited so much controversy. The 
general placed at my disposal the whole of those papers and letters, besides giving the most 
valuable verbal elucidations, and relating many anecdotes previously unrecorded. 

Respecting the manner in which the material should be used, he did not then, and has not 
since, made a single suggestion of any kind. He left me perfectly free in every respect. Nor 
has he seen a line of the manuscript, nor asked a question about it. 

Therefore, while the whole value aud the greater part of the interest of this volume are duo 
to the aid afforded by General Butler, he is not to be held responsible for anything in it except 
his own writings. If I have misunderstood or misinterpreted any event or person, or used the 
papers injudiciously, at my door let all the blame be laid, for it is wholly my fault. 



CONTENTS, 



Ohaptks 

I. — General Butler before the Wae . 
II. — Massachusetts Ready .... 

III. — Annapolts ....... 

IV. — Baltimore ....... 

V. — Fortress Monroe ..... 

VI. — Hatter as ....... 

VII. — Recruiting •iPo«;'"Si'ECiAL Service 
VIII. — Ship Island ...... 

IX. — Reduction of the Forts .... 

X. — The Panic in New Orleans . . 
XL — New Orleans will not Surrender . 
XII. — Landing in New Orleans 
XIII. — Feeding and Emploving the Poor . 
XIV. — The Woman Order ..... 

XV. — Execution of Mumford .... 

XVI. — General Butler and the Foreign Consuls 
XVII. — Efforts toward Restoration . 
XVIII. — The Effect in New Orleans of our Losses 
XIX. — The Sheep and the Goats 
XX. — The Confiscation Act .... 

XXL — More of the Iron Hand .... 

XXII. — The Negro Question — First Difficulties 
XXIII. — General Butler Arms the Free Colorkd 

Work for the Fugitive Slaves 
XXIV. — Representative Negro Anecdotes . 
XXV. — Military Operations .... 

XXVI. — Routine of a Day in New Orleans 

XXVIL— Recall 

XXVHL— At Home 

XXIX.— Summary 

Appendices 



Pass 



IN Virginia 



Men, and 



GENERAL BUTLER IN NEW ORLEANS. 



CHAPTER L 

OENEBAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 

He came of fighting stock. His father's 
father, Captain Zephaniah Butler, of Woodbury, 
Connecticut, fought under Greneral Wolfe at 
Quebec, and served in the continental army 
through the war of the revolution. A large 
old-fashioned powder-horn, covered with quaint 
carving, done by this old soldier's own hand and 
jack-kuife, which was slung at his side when he 
climbed the hights of Quebec, and the sword 
which he wore during the war for independence, 
now hang in the library of General Butler at 
Lowell, the relics of an honorable career. The 
mother of General Butler descends from the 
Cilleys of New Hampshire, a doughty race of 
Scotch-Irish origin ; one of whom fought at the 
battle of the Boyne on the wrong side. That 
valiant Colonel Cilley, who at the battle of Ben- 
nington commanded a company that had never 
seen a cannon, and who, to quiet their appre- 
hensions, sat astride of one while it was dis- 
charged, was an ancestor of our general. Mr. 
Cilley, member of congress from Maine, who 
was shot in a memorable duel, twenty-five years 
ago, was the general's cousin. Thus the tide 
that courses the veins of Benjamin Franklin 
Butler is composed, in about equal parts, of that 
blood which we call Anglo-Saxon, and of that 
strenuous fluid which gives such tenacity and 
audacity to the Scotch-Irish. Such a mixture 
afibrds promise of a mitigated Andrew Jackson 
or of a combative Benjamin Franklin. 

The father of General Butler was John But- 
ler, of Deerfield, New Hampshire ; captain of 
dragoons during the war of 1812; a faithful 
soldier who served for a while under General 
Jackson at New Orleans, and there conceived 
such love for that tough old hero, as to name 
his first boy Andrew Jackson. After the war, 
he engaged in the West India trade, saQing 
sometimes as supercargo, sometimes as merchant, 
sometimes as captain of the schooner, enjoying 
for several years a moderate sufficient prosperity. 
In polities, a democrat, of the pure Jeffersonian 
school ; and this at a time when in New Hamp- 
shire to be a democrat was to live under a social 
ban. He was one of the few who gave gallant 
support to young Isaac Hill, of the New Hamp- 
shire Patriot, the paper which at length brought 
the state into democratic line. He was a friend, 
personal as woJl as political, of Isaac Hill, and 
shared with him the odium and the fierce joy of 
those early contests with powerful and arrogant 
federalism. A ' hearted' democrat was Captain 
Butler; one whose democracy was part of his 
rehgion In Deerfield, where he lived, there 



were but eight democratic votei's, who formed a 
little brotherhood, apart ft-om their fellow towns- 
men, shunned by the federalists as men who 
would have been dangerous from their principles 
if they had not been despicable from their few- 
ness. His boys, therefore, were born into the 
ranks of au abhorred but positive and pugna- 
cious minority — a httle spartan band, alv/ays 
battling, never subdued, never victorious. 

In March, 1819, Captain Butler, while lying 
at one of the West India Islands with his vessel, 
died of yellow fever, leaving to the care of their 
mother his two boys, Benjamin being then an 
infant five months old. A large part of his 
property he had with him at the time of his 
death, and little of it ever found itS' way to his 
widow. She was left to rear her boys as best 
she could, with slender means of support. But 
it is in such circumstances that a New England 
mother shows the stutf she is made of. Capable, 
thrifty, dOigent, devoted, Mrs. Butler made the 
most of her means and opportunities, and suc- 
ceeded in giving to one of her boys a good 
countrj'- education, and helped the other on his 
way to college, and to a liberal profession. She 
lives still, to enjoy in the success of both of them, 
the fruit of her self-denying labors and wise 
management; they proud to own that to her 
they owe whatever renders them worthy of it, 
and thanking God that she is near tliem to dig- 
nify and share their honors and their fortune. 

General Butler was born at Deerfield, an agri- 
cultural town of New Hampshire, on Guy Faux 
day, the fifth of November, 1818. 

The fatherless boy was small, sickly, tractable, 
averse to quarrels, and happy in having a stout 
elder brother to take his part. Reading and 
writing seem to come by nature in New Eng- 
land, for few of that country can recollect a time 
when tliey had not those accomplishments. The 
district school helped him to spelling, figures, a 
little geography, and the rudiments of grammar. 
He soon caught that passion for reading which 
seizes some New England boys, and sends them 
roaming and ravaging in their neighborhood for 
printed paper. His experience was like that of 
his father's friend, Isaac Hill, who limped the 
country round for books, reading almanacs, 
newspapers, tracts, "Law's Serious Call," the 
Bible, fragments of histories, and all printed 
things that fell in his way. The boy hunted for 
books as some boys hunt for birds'-nests and 
early apples; and, in the great scarcity of the 
article, read the few he had so often as to learn 
large portions of them by heart ; devouring with 
special eagerness the story of the revolution, and 
all tales of battle and adventure. The Bible 
was his mother's sufficient library, and the boy 
pleased her by committing to memory long pash 



6 



GENERAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 



sages ; once, the whole book of Matthew. His 
memory then, as always, was something won- 
derful. He can, at this hour, repeat more poetry, 
perhaps, than any other person in tlie country 
wlio has not made the repealing of poetry a 
profession. His mother, observing this gift, and 
considering the apparent weakness of his con- 
stitution, early conceived the desire of giving 
him a hberal education, cherishing also the fond 
hope, as New England mothers would in those 
days, "that her boj'^ would be drawn to enter the 
ministry. 

One chilly morning in November, 1821, when 
he was in liis fourth year, half a dozen sharp- 
eyed Boston gentlemen, Nathan Appleton being 
one of them, might liave been seen (but were 
not) tramping about in the snow near the Falls 
of tlie Merrimac. There was a hamlet near by 
of five or six houses, and a store, but these 
gentlemen wandered along the banks of the 
river among the rocks and trees, unobserved, 
conversing with animation. The result of that 
morning's walk and talk was the city of Lowell, 
now a place of forty thousand inhabitants, with 
thirteen millions invested in cotton and woolen 
mills, and two hundred thousand dollars a month 
paid in wages to operatives. In 1828, when our 
young friend was ten years old, and Lowell was 
a thriving town of two thousand inhabitants, his 
mother removed thither with her boys. 

It was a fortunate move for them all. The 
good mother was enabled to increase her income 
bj' taking a few boarders, and her book-loving 
son had better schools to attend, and abundant 
books at command. He improved these oppor- 
tunities, graduating from a common school to the 
high school, and, at a later day, preparing for 
college at the academy of Exeter in his native 
state. 

As the time approached for his entering col- 
lege, the question was anxiously discussed in the 
family, What college? 

The boy was decided in fiivor of "West Point. 
Nor was a cadetship unattainable, in the days 
of Jackson and Isaac Hill, to the son of Captain 
John Butler. But the cautious mother hesitated. 
She feared he would forget his religion, and 
disappoint her dream of seeing him in the pulpit 
of a Baptist church. She consulted her minister j 
upon the subject. He agreed with her, and j 
recommended Waterville college, in Maine, re- 
cently founded by the Baptists, with a special 
view to the education of young men for the 
ministry. It promised, also, the advantage of a 
manual labor department, in which the youth, 
by working three hours a day, could earn part 
of his expenses. At Waterville. moreover, there 
could be no danger of the student's neglecting 
religion, since the great object of the college 
was the inculcation of religion, and all the in- 
fluences of the place were religious. The presi- 
dent himself was a clergyman, several of the 
professors were clergymen. Attendance at 
church on Sundays was compulsory, and there 
was even a fine often cents for every unexcused 
absence from prayers. Witli such safeguards, 
what danger could there be to the religious 
principles instilled into the mind of the young 
man fi-om his earliest childhood ? Thus argued 
the minister. The mother gave heed to his 
opinions, and the youth was consigned to Water- 
ville. 



He was a slender lad of sixteen, small of 
stature, health infirm, of fair complexion, and 
hair of reddish brown ; his character conspicu- 
ously shown in the remarkable form of his head. 
Over his eyes an immense development of the 
perceptive powers, and tlie upper forehead 
retreating almost like that of a Plat-head Indian. 
A youth of keen vision, fiery, inquisitive, fear- 
less; nothing yet developed in him but ardent 
curiosity to know, and perfect memory to retain. 
Phrenologists would find proof of their theory 
in comparing the portrait of the youth with the 
well-rounded head of the man mature, his organs 
developed by a quarter of a century of intense 
and constant use of them. His purse was most 
slenderly furnished. His mother could aSbrd 
him little help. A good New Hampsliire uncle 
gave him some assistance now and then, and he 
worked his three liours a day in the manual 
labor department at chair-making, earning wages 
ridiculously small. He was compelled to remain 
in debt for a considerable part of his college 
expenses. 

The college was of vast benefit to our young 
friend, as any college must have been, conducted 
in the interests of virtue, and attended by a 
hundred and seventy-five young men from the 
simple and industrious homes of New England; 
most of them eager to improve, and perfectly 
aware that upon tliemselves alone depended the 
success of their future career. If he was prone 
to undervalue some parts of the college course, 
he made most liberal use of the college library. 
He was an omnivorous reader. All the natural 
sciences were interesting to him, particular!}^ 
chemistry; and his fondness for such studies 
inclined him long to choose the medical pro- 
fession. No student went better prepared to the 
class-room of the professor of natui'al philosophy. 

Seduced by his example, there arose a party 
in the college opposed to the regular course of 
studies, advocates of an unregulated browse 
among the books of the library, each student to 
read only such subjects as interested him, 
There was a split in the Literary Society. Of 
the retiring body, afler immense electioneering, 
young Butler was elected president, and the 
question was theu debated with extreme earnest- 
ness tor several weeks, whether the mind would 
fare better by confining itself to the college 
routine, or by reading whatever it had appetite 
for. I know not which party carried the day ; 
but our friend was foremost in maintaining both 
by speech and example, that knowledge was 
knowledge, however obtained, and that the 
mind could get most advantage by partaking of 
the kind of nutriment it craved. He laid a 
wager with a noted plodder of the college, that 
he would continue for a given term hisdesultoiy 
reading, and yet beat him in the regular lessons 
of the class. The wager was won by an artifice. 
He did continue his desultory reading, as well 
as his desultory wanderings about the country, 
but late at night, when all the college slept, he 
spent some hours in vigorous c7-am for the next 
day's lesson. His memory was sucli, that he 
found it easier to commit to memory such lessons 
as " Waj^iand's Moral Philosophy," than to pre- 
pare them in the usual way. He astonished his 
plodding friend one day, by repeating thirteen 
pages of Waylaud, without once hesitating. 

He came into collision with his reverend 



GEiSTERAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 



instructors oa a point of colleg-e discipline. Tbe 
Sue of ten cents imposed for absence from 
prayers, was a serious matter to a young gen- 
tleman naturally averse to getting up before 
daylight, and who earned not more than two or 
three ten cent pieces daily in the chair shop. But 
it was not of the fine that he complained. It 
■was a rule of the college that the fine should 
carry with it a loss of standing in class. This 
our student esteemed unjust, and he thought he 
had good reason to complain since, though, upon 
the whole, a good scholar, he was always on the 
point of expulsion for the loss of marks for his 
morning delinquency. He took an opportunity, 
at length, to protest against this apparent in- 
justice in a highly audacious and characteristic 
manner. One of the professors, a distinguished 
theologian, preached in the college church, a 
sermon of the severest Calvinistic type, in the 
course of which he maintained propositions like 
these: 1. The Elect, and the Elect alone, will 
be saved. 2. Of the people commonly called 
Christians, probably not more than one in a 
hundred will be saved. 3. The heathen have a 
better chance of salvation than the inhabitants 
of Christian countries who neglect their oppor- 
tunities. Upon these hints the young gentleman 
spake. He drew up a petition to the faculty, 
couched in the language of profound respect, 
asking to be excused from further attendance at 
prayers and sermons, on the grounds so ably 
sustained in the discourse of the preceding Sun- 
day. If, he said, the doctrine of that sermon 
was sound, of which he would not presume to 
entertain a doubt, he was only preparing for 
himself a future of more exquisite anguish by 
attending religious services. He begged to be 
allowed to remind the faculty, that the church in 
which the sermon was preached, had usually a 
congregation of six hundred persons, nine of 
whom, were his revered professors and tutors ; 
and as only one in a hundred of ordinary Chris- 
tians could be saved, three even of the faculty, 
good men as all of them were, were inevitably 
damned. Could he, a mere student, and not one 
of the most exemplary, expect to be saved be- 
fore his superiors? Far be from him a thought 
BO presumptuous. Shakspeare himself had inti- 
mated that the lieutenant cannot expect salva- 
tion before his military superior. Nothing re- 
mained, therefore, for him but perdition. In 
this melancholy posture of affairs, it became him 
to beware of hightening his future torment by 
listening to tlie moving eloquence of the pulpit, 
or availing himself of any of the privileges of 
religion. But here he was met by the college 
laws, which compelled attendance at chapel and 
church; which imposed a pecuniary fine for 
non-attendance, and entailed a loss of the honors 
due to his scholarship. Threatened thus with 
damnation in the next world, bankruptcy and 
disgrace in this, he implored the merciful con- 
sideration of the faculty, and asked to be e.x- 
cused from all further attendance at prayers and 
at church. , 

This unique petition was drawn with the ut- 
most care, and the reasoning fully elaborated. 
Handsomely copied, and folded into the usual 
form of important public documents, it was sent 
to the president. The faculty did not take the 
joke. Before the whole college in chapel assem- 
bled, the culprit standing, he was reprimanded 



for irreverence. It was rumored at the time 
that he narrowly escaped expulsion. He had a 
friend or two in the faculty who, perhaps, could 
forgive the audacity of the petition for the sake 
of its humor. 

It must be owned that the Calvinistic the- 
ology in vogue at Waterville, did not commend 
itself to the mind of this young man. He was 
formed by nature to be an antagonist; and j'outh 
is an antagonist regardless of remote consequen- 
ces. At West Point he would have battled for 
his hereditary tenets against all who had ques- 
tioned them. At Waterville, nothing pleased 
him better than to measure logic with the 
staunchest doctor of them all. It chanced 
toward the close of his college course, that the 
worthy president of the institution delivered a 
course of lectures upon miracles, maintaining 
these two propositions: 1. If the miracles are 
true, the gospel is of Divine origin and authoritj'. 
2. The miracles are true, becau.se the apostles, 
who must have known whether they were true 
or false, proved their belief in their truth by 
their martyrdom. At the close of each discourse, 
the lecturer invited the class to ofter objections. 
Young Butler seized the opportunity with alac- 
rity, and plied the doctor hard with the usual 
arguments employed by the heterodox. He did 
not fail to furnish himself with a catalogue of 
martyrs who had died in the defense and for the 
sole sake of dogmas now universally conceded 
to be erroneous. All religions, he said, boasted 
their army of martyrs ; and martyrdom proved 
nothing — not even the absolute sincerity of the 
martyr. And as to the apostles, Peter notoriously 
denied his Lord, Thomas was an avowed skeptic, 
James and John were slain to please the Jews, 
and the last we heard of Paul was, that he was 
living in his own hired house, commending the 
government of Nero. The debate continued 
day after day, our youth cramming diligently 
for each encounter, always eager for the fray. 
He chanced to find in the village a copy of that 
armory of unbelief, " Taylor's Diegesis of the 
New Testament," and from this, he and his 
comrades secretly drew missives to let fly at the 
president after lecture. The doctor maintained 
his ground ably and manfully, little thinking 
that he was contending, not with a few saucy 
students, but with the accumulated skeptical 
ingeuuity of centuries. 

All this, I need scarcely say, was mere intel- 
lectual exercise and sport. General Butler, du- 
ring the whole of his mature life, has been a 
liberal supporter of the church, aud an advocate 
of its institutions and requirements. 

His college course was done. He would have 
graduated with honor, if his standing as a 
scholar had not been lost through his delinquen- 
cies as a rebel. As it was, it was touch-and-go, 
whether he could be permitted to graduate at 
all. He was, however, assigned a low place in 
the graduating class, and bore ofl' as good a 
piece of parchment as the best of them. He 
had outUved his early preference for the medical 
profession. In one of his last years at college, 
he had witnessed in court a well-contested trial, 
and as he marked with admiration the skillful 
management of the opposing counsel, and shared 
the keen excitement of the strife, he said to 
himself: " This is the work for me." He left 
college in debt, and with health impaired. He 



8 



GENERAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 



weighed but ninety-seven pounds. In all the 
world, there was no one to whom he could look 
for help, save himself alone. 

Yet, in the nick of time, he found a friend 
who gave him just the aid lie needed most. It 
was an uncle, captain of a fishing schooner, one 
of those kind and brave old sailors of Yankee 
land, who, for two hundred j'ears, have roamed 
the northern seas in quest of something to keep 
the pot boiling on the rock-bound shores of Home. 
The good-hearted captain observed the pule 
visage and attenuated form of his nephew. 
"Come with me, lad, to the coast of Labrador, 
and heave a line this summer. I'll give you a 
bunk in the cabin, but you must do your duty 
before the mast, watch and watch like a man. 
I'll warrant you'll come back sound enough in 
the fall." Thus, the ancient mariner. The 
young man went to the coast of Labrador; 
hove a line ; ate the flesh and drank the oil of 
cod; came back, after a four months" cruise in 
perfect health, and had not another sick day in 
twenty j-^ears. His constitution developed into 
the toughest, the most indefatigable compound 
of brain, nerve and muscle lately seen in New 
England. A gift of twenty thousand dollars 
had been a paltry boon in comparison with that 
bestowed upon him by this worthy uncle. 

He returned to Lowell in his twentieth year, 
and took hold of life with a vigorous grasp. The 
law office which he entered as a student, was 
that of a gentleman who spent most of his time 
in Boston, and from whom he received not one 
word of guidance or instruction ; nor felt the 
need of one. He read law with all his might, 
and began almost immediately to practice a 
little in the police courts at Lowell, conducting 
suits brought by the factory girls against the 
mill corporations, and defending petty criminal 
cases; glad enough to earn an occasional two 
dollar fee. The presiding justice chanced to be 
a really learned lawyer and able man, and thus 
this small practice was a valuable aid to the 
student. Small indeed were his gains, and sore 
his need. One six months of his two years' 
probation, he taught a public school in Lowell, 
in order to procure decent clothing; and he 
taught it well, say his old pupils. What with 
his school, his law studies, and his occasional 
practice, he worked eighteen hours in the twen- 
ty-four. 

At this time he joined the Lowell Phalanx, a 
company of that Sixth regiment of Massachu- 
setts militia, so famous in these years for its 
bloody march through Baltimore. Always fond 
of military pursuits and exercise.^, he has served 
in every grade — privaie, corporal, sergeant, 
third lieutenant, second lieutenant, first lieu- 
tetiant, captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, 
and brigadier-general; making it a point to hold 
every one of tiiese positions in due succession. 
For many years, the drills, parades and annual 
encampings of his regiment were the only re- 
creation for which he would find leisure — much 
to tlie wonder of his professional friends, who i 
were wont, in tlie old, peaceful times, to banter 
him severely upon what seemed to them a rather 
ridiculous foible. • " What a Tool you are," they 
would say, " to spend so much time in marching 
around town in .soldier-clothes !" This young 
gentleman, however, was one of those who take 
hold of life as they find it ; not disdaining the 



duties of a citizen of a free country, but rejoicing 
in them, and making them serve his purposes, as 
they should. 

A trifling incident of these early years marks 
at once the Yankee and the man. That every- 
day wonder of the modern world, a locomot've, 
was then first seen at Lowell. Many of us re- 
member seeing our first locomotive, and how we 
comported ourselves on the interesting occasion. 
Our young lawyer behaved thus : In company 
with his friend, the engineer, he visited the 
wondrous engine at its own house, and spent 
five hours in studying it, questioning both it and 
its master until he understood the why and the 
wherefore of every part, and felt competent to 
navigate the machine to Boston. This small 
anecdote contains the essence of old New Eng- 
land ; which is expressed also in one of the 
country exclamations; ^' I ward to know P^ 

In 1840, being then twenty-two years of age, 
he was admitted to the bar. An early incident 
brought him into favor with some of the mill- 
owners. There was a strike among his friends 
and patrons, the girls ; two or three thousand of 
whom a.ssembled in a grove near Lowell, to talk 
over their grievances and organize for their 
redress. They invited the young lawyer to ad- 
dress them, and he accepted the invitation. It 
was a unique position for a gentleman of twenty- 
two, not wanting in the romantic element, to 
stand before an audience of three thousand 
young ladies, the well-instructed daughters of 
New England farmers and mechanics. He gave 
ihem sound advice, such as might have come 
from an older head. Admitting the justice of 
their claims, he showed the improbabilitj'' of 
their obtaining them at a time when labor was 
abundant, and places in the mills were sought 
by more girls than could be employed. The 
mill-owners, he said, could, at that time, allow 
their mills to stand idle for a considerable period 
without serious loss — perhaps, even with advan- 
tage ; but could the girls aflbrd to lose any con- 
siderable part of a season's wages? Strikes 
were always a doubtful, and often a desperate 
measure, and entailed suffering upon the opera- 
tives a thousand times greater than the evils 
for which they sought redre.ss. The time might 
come when a strike would be the only course 
left them; but, at present, he counseled other 
measures. He concluded by strongly advising 
the girls to return to their work, and endeavor 
by remonstrance, and, if that failed, by appeals 
to the legislature, to procure a shorter day and 
juster compcn.sation. The girls took his advice 
and returned to work. 

The day's work in the mills was then thirteen 
hours — a literally killing period. Thirteen 
hours a day in a mill means this; incessant 
activity from five in the morning until nine in 
the evening the year round. It means a tired 
and useless Sunday. It means torpidity ot 
death to all the nobler faculties. It means a 
white and bloated fiice, a diseased and languid 
body, a premature death. As much as to any 
other man in Massachusetts the subsequent 
change to eleven hours was owing to " the girls' , 
lawyer," as we shall see in a moment. 

His advice to the girls, at their mass-meeting 
in the grove, was well pleasing to the lords oJ 
the mill, some of whom, from this time, gave him 
occasional employment. 



GENERAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 



9 



But our young friend remained a democrat — 
a democrat during the administration of General 
Jaclvsoia — a democrat in LowtU, supposed to be 
the creation of that protective tariff whicli a de- 
mocratic majority had reduced and was reducing ! 
It was lilse living at Cape Cod and voting against 
the fishing bounties, or in Louisiana and oppos- 
ing the sugar duty. And this particular democrat 
was a man without secrets and without guile; 
positive, antagonistic and twenty-two; a friend 
and disciple of Isaac Hill, and one who had seen 
that little lame hero of democracy assaulted by 
the huge Upham in the streets of Exeter, with 
feelings not unutterable. In such odium were his 
opinions held in Lowell at that time, that he 
could not appear at the tavern table in court time 
witliout being tabooed or insulted. The first 
day of his sitting at dinner with the bar, the 
discussion grew so hot that the main business of 
the occasion was neglected, and he concluded 
that if he meant to take sustenance at all he 
must dine elsewhere. He did so for one dixy; 
but feehng that such a course looked like aban- 
doning the field, he returned on the day follow- 
ing, and faced Ibe '.nusic tc the end of the session. 
His audacity and quickness stood him in good 
stead at tliis period. One of his first cases being 
called in court, he said, in the usual way, " Let 
notice be given !" 

" In wliat paper ?" asked the aged clerk of the 
court, a strenuous whig. 

" In the Lovjell Advertiser," was the reply ; the 
Lowell Advertiser being a Jackson paper, never 
mentioned in a Lowell court; of whose mere 
existence, few there present would confess a 
knowledge. 

^' The Lowell Advertiser?" said the clerk, with 
disdainfiil nonchalance, " I don't know such a 
paper." 

" Pray, Mr. Clerk, " said the lawyer, " do noti 
interrupt the proceedings of the court ; for if you 
begin to tell us what you don't know, there will 
be no time for anything else." 

He was always prompt with a retort of this 
kind. So, at a later day, when he was cross- 
questioning a witness in not the most respectful 
manner, and the court interposing, reminded liira 
that the witness was a professor in Harvard 
college, he instantly replied ; " I am aware of it, 
your honor; we hung one of them the other 
day." 

His politics were not, in reality, an obstacle to 
his success at the bar, though his friends feared 
they would be. There are two sides to every 
suit ; and as people go to law to win, they are 
not likely to overlook an advocate who, besides 
the ordinary motives to e.vertion, has the stimulus 
of political and social antagonism. He won his 
way rapidlj' to a lucrative practice, and witli 
sufficient rapidity, to an important, leading, con- 
spicuous practice. He was a bold, diligent, veiie- 
ment, inexhaustible opponent. 

In some important particulars, General Butler 
surpassed all his contemporaries at the New 
England bar. His memory was such, that he 
could retain the whole of the testimony of the 
very longest trial without taking a note. His 
power of labor seemed unlimited. In fertility of 
of expedient, and in the lightning quickness of 
his devices, to snatch victory from the jaws of 
defeat, his equal has seldom lived. To tliese 
gifts, add a perseverance that knew no discour- 



agement, and never accepted defeat while one 
possibility of triumph remained. One who saw 
liiui much at the bar in former times, wrote of 
him three years ago : 

" His devices and shifts to obtain an aquittal 
and release are absolutely endless and innumer- 
able. He is never daunted or baffled until the 
sentence is passed and put into execution, and 
the reprieve, pardon, or commutation is refused. 
An indictment must be drawn with tlie great- 
est nicely, or it will not stand his criticism. A 
verdict of guilty is nothing to him; it is only the 
beginning of tlie case; he has fitly exceptions; 
a hundred motions in arrest of judgment ; and 
after that the habeas co^-jnis and personal replevin. 
The opposing counsel never begins to feel safe 
until the evidence is all in ; for he knows not 
what new dodges Butler may spring upon him. 
He is more fertile in expedients than any man 
who practices law among us. His expedients 
frequently fail, but they are generally plausible 
enough to bear the test of trial. And faulty and 
weak as they oflontimes are, Butler always has 
confidence in them to the last; and when one 
fails, he invariably tries anotiier. If it were not 
that there must be an end to everything, his 
desperate cases would never be finished, for there 
would be no end to his expedients to obtain his 
case." 

An old friend andfellow-practitioner of General 
Butler, Mr. J. Q. A. A. Griffin, of Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, favors the reader with an anec- 
dote; 

" General Butler was a member of our house of 
representatives one year, when his party was in 
a hopeless and impotent minority, except on 
such occasions as he contrived to make it efficient 
by tactics and stratagems of a teciinical, pariia- 
jSjentary character. The speaker was a whig, and 
ja tliorough partisan. Tiie whigs were well drill- 
•ed and had a leader on the floor of very great 
capacity, Mr. Lord of Salem. During one angry 
debate, General Butler attempted to strangle an 
obnoxious proposal of the majority by tactics. 
Accordingly lie precipitated upon the chair divers 
questions of order and regularity of proceeding, 
one after the other. These were debated by Mr. 
Lord and himself, and tlien decided bj' the speak- 
er uniformly according to the notions advanced 
by Mr. Lord. The general bore this for some 
time without special coinphiint, contenting him- 
self with raising new questions. j\.t length,, 
however, he called special attention to the fact 
tliat he had been overruled so many times by the 
cliair, williin such a space of time, and that, as 
often not only had the speaker adopted tiie re- 
sult of Mr. Lord's suggestions, but generally had 
accepted the same words in which to aunc^oe 
it; and, said he, 'Mr. Speaker, I cannot complain 
of these rulings. They doubtless seem to the 
speaker to be just. I perceive an anxiety on 
your part to be just to the mhiority and to me 
by whom at this moment they are represented, 
for, like Saul, on the road to Damascus, your 
constant anxiety seems to be, Loud, what wilt 
tiiou have me to do?" 

One example of what a writer styles General 
Butler's legerdemain. A man in Boston, of re- 
spectable connections and some wealth, being 
afflicted with a mania for stealing, was, at length, 
brought to trial on four indictments; and a host 
of lawyers were assembled, engaged in the case. 



10 



GENEEAL BUTLER BEFORE TUiO WAR. 



expecting a long and sharp contest. It was hot . ilany of General Butler's triumphs, however, 
sunitner weather ; the judge was old and indo- ' were won after long and perfectly contested 
'ent; the ofBcers of the court were weary of the ' struggles, which fully and legitimately tested his 
session and anxious to adjourn. General Butler sti-eugth as a lawyer. Perhaps, as a set-off to 
was counsel for the prisoner. It is a law in the case just related, I should give one of the 
Massachusetts, that the repetition of a crime other description. 

by the same offender, within a certain period, A son of one of the general's most valued 
shall entail a severer punishment than the first friends made a voyage to China as a sailor before 
oflense. A third repetition, involves more se- ■ the mast, and returned with his constitution 
verily, and a fourth still more. According to ' ruined through the scurvy, his captain having 
this law, the prisoner, if convicted on all four : neglected to supply the ship with the well-known 
indictments, would be liable to imprisonment in [ antidotes to that disease, lime juice and fresh 
the penitentiary, for the term of sixtj' years, i vegetables. A suit for damages was instituted 
As the court was assembling, General Butler re- j on tlie part of the crew against the captain, 
monstrated with the counsel for the prosecution, ! General Butler was retained to conduct the 
upon the rigor of their proposed proceedings, j cause of the sailors, and Mr. Rufus Choate de- 
Surely, one indictment would answer the ends j fended the captain. The trial lasted nineteen 
of justice ; why condemn the man to imprison- , working days. General Butler's leading posi- 



ment for life for what was, evidently, more a 
disease liian a crime ? They agreed, at length, 
to quash tliree of the indictments, on condition 
that the prisoner sliould plead guilty to the one 
which charged the theft of the greatest amount. 
The prisoner was arraigned. 

" Are you guilty, or not guilty ?" 

'"Say guilt}-, sir," said General Butler, from 
his place in the bar, in his most commanding 
tone. 

The man cast a helpless, bewildered look at 
his counsel, and said nothing. 

" Say guilty, sir," repeated the General, look- 
ing into the prisoner's eyes. 

The man, without a will, was compelled to 
obey, by the very constitution of his infirm mind. 

" Guilty," he faltered, and sunk down into his 
seat, crushed with a sense of shame. 

"Now, gentleman," said the counsel for the 
prisoner, "have I, or have I not, performed my 
part of the compact?" 

" You have." •' '* 

" Then perform yours." '"' 

This was done. A Not. Pros, was duly en- 
tered upon the three indictments. The counsel 
for the prosecution immediately moved for 
sentence. 

General Butler then rose, with the other 
indictment in his hand, and pointed out a flaw 
in it, manifest and fatal The error consisted in 
designating the place where the crime was 
committed. 

"Your honor perceives," said the general, 
" that this court has no jurisdiction in the mat- 
ter. I move that the prisoner be discharged 
from custody." 

Ten minutes from that time, the astounded 
man was walking out of the court-room free. 



tions were: 1. That tiiu captain was bound to 
procure fresh vegetables if he could ; and, 2. 
That he could. In establishing tr'ase two points, 
he displayed an amount of leari/ing, ingenuity 
and tact, seldom equaled at the bar. The whole 
of sanitary science aiid the whole of sanitary 
law, the narratives of all navigators and the 
usages of all navies, reports of parliamentary 
commissions and the diaries of philanthropical 
ivesligators, ancient log-books and new treatises 
of maritime law ; the testimony of mariners 
and the opinions of physicians, all were made 
tributary to his cause. He exhibited to the jury 
a large map of the world, and, taking the log of 
the ship in his hand, he read its daily entries, 
and as he did so, marked on the map the ship's 
course, showing plaitdy to the eye of the jury, 
that on four different occasions, while the crew 
were rotting with the scurvy, the sln'p passed 
within a few hours' sail of islands, renowned in all 
those seas fjr the abundance, the excellence, and 
the cheapness of their vegetables. Mr. Choate 
contested every point with all his skill and elo- 
quence. The end of the daily session was only 
ihe beginning of General Butler's day's work; 
for there were new points to be investigated, 
other facts to be discovered, more witnesses to 
be hunted up. He rummaged libraries, he pored 
over encyclopedias and gazetteers, ho ferreted 
out old sailors, and went into court every morn- 
ing with a mass of new material, and followed 
by a train of old doctors or old salts to support 
a position shaken the day before. In the course 
of the trial he had on the witness-stand nearly 
every eminent physician in Boston, and nearly 
every sea-captain and ship-owner. Justice and 
General Butler triumphed. The jury gave dam- 
ages to the amount of three thousand dollars ; 



The flaw in the indictment, General Butler an award which to-day protects American sailors 
discovered the moment after the compact was ! on every sea. 
made. If he had gone to the prisoner, and spent j Such energy and talent as this, could not fail 
five minutes in inducing him to consent to the of liberal reward, .\fler ten years of practice 
arrangement, the sharp opposing counsel, long at Lowell, with frequent employment in Boston 
accustomed to his tactics, would have suspected ' courts, General Butler opened an office in Boston, 
a ruse, and eagerly scanned the indictment. He ', and thenceforward, in conjunction wiih a part- 
relied, therefore, .solely on the power which a ' ner in each city, carried oii two distinct estab- 
naan, with a will, has over a man who has none, ' lishments. For many years ho was punctual at 
and so merely commanded the plea of guilty. ' the depot in Lowell at seven in the morning, 
The court, it is said, not unwilling to escape a summer and winter; at Boston soon after eight; 
long trial, laughed at tiie manasuver, and com- ' in court at Boston from half-past nine till near 
plimented the successful lawj'er upon the ex- five in ihe afternoon; back to Lowell, and to 
cellent "discipline" which he maintained among dinner at half past six; at his office in Lowell 
his clients. from half past seven till midnight, or later. 

This was a ease of legal "legerdemain." "When the war broke out, ne had the most 



GENERAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 



lucrative practice in New England — worth at a 
moderate estimate, eighteen thousand dollars a 
year. At the moment of his leaving for the scene 
of war, the list of cases in which he was re- 
tained numbered five liundred. Happily mar- 
ried at an early age to a lady, in whom are 
united the accomplishments which please, and 
the qualities that inspire esteem, blessed with 
three affectionate children, he enjoyed at his 
beautiful home, on the lofty baniis of the tum- 
bling Merrimac, a most enviable domestic felicity. 
At the age of forty, though he had lived Hber- 
ally, he was in a condition to retire from business 
if he had so chosen. 

A writer well remarks that a lawyer in great 
practice as an advocate has peculiar oppor- 
tunities of ncquiring peculiar knowledge. That 
famous scurvy case, for example, made him 
acquainted with the entire range of sanitary 
science. A great bank case opens all the mys- 
teries of finance ; a bridge case the wiiole art of 
bridge building; a railroad case the law and 
usages of all railroads. A few years ago when 
General Butler served as one of the examiners 
at West Point, he put a world of questions to 
the graduating class upon subjects connected 
■with the military art, indicating unexpected 
specialties of knowledge in the questioner. 
" But how did you know anything about that?" 
his companions would ask. " Oli, I once had a 
case which obliged me to look into it." This 
answer was made so often that it became the 
jocular custom of the committee, when any 
knotty point arose in conversation, to ask Gen- 
eral Butler whether he had not a case involving 
it. The knowingness and direct manner of this 
Massachusetts lawyer left such an impression 
upon the mind of one of the class, (the lamented 
General George G. Strong,) that he sought ser- 
vice under him in the war five years after. 
This curious specialty of information, particu- 
larly his intimate knowledge of ships, banks, 
railroads, sanitary science, and engineering, was 
of the utmost value to him and to the country 
at a later day. 

And now a few words upon the political 
career of General Butler in Massachusetts. 
Despite his enormous and incessant labors ac 
the bar, he was a busy and eager politician. 
Prom his twentieth year he was wont to stump 
the neighboring towns at election time, and from 
the year 1844, never failed to attend the national 
conventions of his party. Upon all the ques- 
tions, both of state and national politics, which 
have agitated Massachusetts during the last 
twenty years, his record is clear and ineffaceable. 
R.ight or wrong, there is not the slightest ditfi- 
lulty in knowing where he has stood or stands. 
He has, in piTfection, what the French call 
"the courage of opinion;" which a man could 
aot fail to have who has passed his whole life 
in a minority, generally a hopeless minority, but 
a minority always active, incisive, and inspired 
with the audacity which comes of having nothing 
to lose. I need not remind any American reader 
that during the last twenty-five years the demo- 
cratic party in Massachusetts has seldom had 
even a plausible hope of carrying an election. 
If ever it has enjoyed a partial triumph, it has 
been through the operation of causes which 
disturbed the main issue, and enabled the party 
to combine with factions temporarily severed 



from a majority otherwise invincible. The 
politics of an American citizen, for many 
years past, have been divided into two parts : 
1. His position on the questions affected by 
slavery. 2. His position on questions aot 
affected by .slavery. Let us first glance at Gen- 
eral Butler's course on the class of subjects last 
named. 

As a state politician, then, the record of which 
lies before me in a heap of pamphlets, reports, 
speeches, and proceedings of deliberative bodies, 
I find his coni'se to liave been soundly democrat- 
ic, a champion of lair play and equal rights. In 
that great struggle which resulted in the passage 
of the eleven-hour law, he was a candidate for 
the legislature, on the "ten-hour ticket," and 
fought the battle with all the vigor and tact 
which belonged to him. A few days before the 
election, as he was seated in his office at Lowell, 
a deputation of workiugraen came to him, excit- 
ed and alarmed, with the news, that a notice had 
been posted in the mills, to the effect, that any 
man who voted the Butler ten-hour ticket, would 
be discharged. 

" Get out a hand-bill," said the general " an 
nouncing that I will address the workingmen to 
morrow evening." 

The hall was so crammed with people that 
the speaker had to be passed in over the heads 
of the multitude. He began his speech with 
umwonted calmness, amid such breathless si- 
lence as falls upon an as-sembly when the ques- 
tion in debate concerns their dearest interests — 
their honor, and their livelihood. He began by 
saying that he was no revolutionist. How could 
he be in Lowell, where were invested the earn- 
ings of his laborious life, and where the value ot 
all property depended upon the peaceful labors 
of the men before him ? Nor would he believe 
that the notice posted in the mills was aulliorized. 
Some underling had doubtless done it to propi- 
tiate distant masters, misjudging them, misjudg- 
ing the working-men of Lowell. The owners of 
the mills were men too wise, too just, or, at 
least too prudent, to authorize a measure which 
absolutely extinguished government ; which, at 
once, invited, justified, and necessitated anai'chy. 
For tyranny less monstrous than this, men of 
Massachusetts had cast olf their allegiance to the 
king of Great Britain, and plunged into the 
bloodj' eiiaos of revolution ; and the directors of 
the Lowell mills must know that the sons stood 
ready, at any moment, to do as their sires had 
done before them. But this he would say : If 
it should prove that the notice tuas authorized ; 
if men should be deprived of the means of earn- 
ing their bread for having voted as their con- 
sciences directed, then, woe to Lowell! " The 
place that knows it shall know it no more for 
ever. To ray own house, I, with this hand, will 
first apply the torch. I ask but this: give me 
time to get out ray wife and children. All I 
have in the world I consecrate to the flaraes!" 

Those who have heard General Butler speak 
can form an idea of the tremendous force with 
which he would utter words like these. He is a 
man capable of infinite wrath, and, on this oc- 
casion he was stirred to the depths of his being. 
The audience were so powerfully moved, that a 
cry arose for the burning of tiie town that very 
night, and there was even the beginning of a 
movement towards the doora. But the speaker 



GENERAL BUTLER BEFORE THE WAR. 



instantly relapsed into the tone and line of re- 
mark with w'fiicli he liad begun tlio speecli, and 
concluded vvitii a solemn appeal to every voter 
present to vote as his judgment and conscience 
directed, with a total disregard to personal con- 
sequences. 

The ne.Kt morning the notice was no more 
seen. Tiie election passed peacefully away, and 
the ten-hour ticket was elected. Two priceless 
hours were tlius rescued from the day of toil, 
and added to those which rest and civilize. 

The possibility of high civih'zation to the whole 
community — the mere possibility — depends upon 
these two things: an evening of leisure, and a 
Sunday without exhaustion. These two, well 
improved during a whole lifetime, will put any 
one of fair capacity in possession of the best 
best results of civilization, social, moral, intel- 
lectual, esthetic. And this is the meaning and 
aim of democracy — to secure to all honest people 
a foir chance to acquire a share of those tilings, 
which give to life its value, its dignity, and its 
joy. Justly, tiierefore, may we class measures 
which tend to give the laborer a free evening, as 
democratic. 

In the legislature, to which General Butler 
was twice elected, once to the assembly, and 
once to the senate, he led the opposition to the 
old banking system, and advocated tliat which 
gives perfect security to the New York bill- 
holder, and wiiich is often styled the New York 
system, recently adopted as a national measure. 
He had the courage, too, to report a bill for 
compensating the proprietors of the Ursuliue 
convent of Charlestown, destroyed, twenty 
years ago, by a mob, and standing now a black- 
ened ruin, reproaching the commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. It is s;iid, that he would have 
succeeded in getting his biU passed, had not an 
intervening Sunday given the Calvinistic clergy 
an opportunity to bring their artillery to bear 
jpon it. He represented Lowell in the conven- 
tion to revise the constitution of Massachusetts, 
a few years ago, and took a leading part in its 
proceedings. With these exceptions, though he 
has run for office a liundred times, lie has fig- 
ured only in the forlorn hope of the minority, 
3limbing toward the breach in every contest, 
with as much zeal as though he expected to 
reach the citadel. 

"But why so long la the minority? why 
20uld he and Massachu.setts never get into ac- 
cord ?" This leads us to consider his position 
in national politics. 

Gentlemen of General Butler's way of think- 
ing upon the one national question of the last 
twenty years have been styled " pro-slavery 
democrats." This expression, as applied to 
General Butler, is calumnious. I can And no 
utterance of his which justifies it; but on the 
contrary, in his speeches, there is an evidently 
purposed avoidance of expressions that could be 
construed info an approbation of slavery. The 
nearest approach to anything like an apology for 
the " institution" which appears in his speeches, 
is the expression of an opinion, that sudden ab- 
olition would be ruin to the niiister, and a 
doubtful good to the slave. On the other hand, 
there is no word in condemnation of slavery. 
There is even an assumption that with the moral 
and philanthropic aspects of slavery, we of the 
north had nothing to do. He avowed the opin- 



ion, that we were bound to stand by the com- 
promises of tlie constitution, not in the letter 
merely, but in the spirit, and that the spirit of 
those compromi.ses bound the government to 
give slavery a chance in the territories. 

A ruling motive with him was a keen sense 
of the sacredness of compacts. Add to this a 
strong, hereditary party spirit, and some willful 
plensure in acting with a minority. In his 
speeclics on the slavery question there is candor, 
force, and truth ; and their argument is unan- 
swerable, if it be granted that slavery can have 
any rights whatever not expressly granted by 
the letter of the constitution. There is nothing 
in them of base subserviency, notliing of insin- 
cerity, nothing uncertain, no vote-catching 
vagueness. 

When the wretched Brooks had committed 
the assault upon Charles Sumner in the senate 
chamber, there were men of Massaclmsetts who, 
i surpassing the craven baseness of Brooks himself, 
gave him a supper, and stooped even to sit at 
ihe table and help him to eat it. General But- 
ler, blazing with divine wrath, publicly denoun- 
ced the act in Washington in such terms as 
became a man, and called upon Mr. Sumner, to 
express his horror and his sympath}'. He saw 
with his own eyes, and felt with his own hands, 
that the wounds could only have been given 
while the senator was bending low over his desk, 
absorbed and helpless. 

When John Brown, the sublime madman, or 
else the one sane man in a nation mad, had done 
the deed for which unborn pilgrims will come 
from afar, to look upon the sod that covers his 
bones. General Butler spoke at a meeting held 
in Lowell, to reassure the alarmed people of the 
South. This speech very fairly represents his 
habit of thought upon the vexed subject before 
the war. He spoke in strong reprobation of 
northern abolitionists, and southern fire-eaters, 
as men equally guilty of inflaming and mislead- 
ing their fellow citizens ; so that, at lengtii it 
had come to pass, that neither section under- 
stood the other. "The mistake," said he, "is 
mutual. We look at the South through the 
medium of tlie abolitionist orators — a very dis- 
torted picture. The South see us only as ram- 
pant abolitionists, ready to make a foray upon 
their life and property." 

General Butler was elected a delegate to the 
democratic convention, held in Charleston, in 
April, I860. He went to Charleston with two 
strong convictions on his mind. One was, that 
concessions to the Soutii had gone as far as the 
northern democracy could ever be induced to 
sustain. The other was that a fair nomination 
of Mr. Dougln.s, by a national democratic con- 
vention was impossible. 

Nevertheless, in obedience to instructions, he 
voted for Mr. Douglas as long as there was any 
hope of procuring his nomination. He then gave 
his vote for Jefferson Davis. On the final dis- 
ruption of the convention at Baltimore, he went 
with the body that nominated for the presidency 
John 0. Breckinridge of Kentucky. 

Let us see how the four parties stood in the 
contest of that year. 

The Cincinnati platform of 1856 said: Let the 
people in each territory decide, wh-^n they form 
a constitution, whether they will come into the 
Union as a slave state or as a free state. 



MASSACHUSETTS EEADY. 



13 



But the delay in the admission of Kansas, gave 
intense interest to the question, whether slavery 
oould exist in a territory before its admission. 
This was the issue in 1860. 
The republican platform said : No, it can not 
exist. Freedom is the normal condition of all 
territory. Slavery can exist only by local law. 
There is no authority anywhere competent to le- 
galize slavery in a territory of the United States. 
The Supreme Court can not do it. Congress can 
not do it. The territorial legislature can not do 
it. 

The Douglas platform said ; We do not know 
whether slavery can exist in a territory or not. 
There is a difference of opinion among us upon 
the subject. The Supreme Court must decide, 
and its decision shall be final and binding. 

The Breckinridge platform said: Slavery law- 
fully exists in a territory the moment a slave- 
owner enters it with his slaves. The United 
States is bound to maintain his right to hold 
slaves in a territory. But when the people of the 
territory frame a state constitution, tiiey are to 
decide whether to enter the Uniou as a slave or 
as a free slate. If as a slave state, tiiey are to 
be admitted without question. If as a free state, 
the slave-owners must retire or emancipate. 

The Bell and Everett party, declining to con- 
struct a platform, expressed no opinion upon the 
question at issue. 

Thus, of the four parties in the field, two only 
had the courage to look the state of things in the 
face, and to avow a positive conviction, namely, 
the republicans and the Breckinridge men. These 
two, alone, made platforms upon which an hon- 
est voter could intelligently stand. The other 
parties shirked the issue, and meant to shirk it. 
The most pitiable spectacle ever afforded in the 
politics of the United States, was tl)e wrigglings 
of Mr. Douglas during the campaign, when he 
taxed all his great ingenuity to seem to say 
something that should win votes in one section, 
witliout losing votes in the other. Tragical as 
the end was to him, all men felt that his disap- 
pointment was just, though they would liave 
gladly seen him recover from the shock, take the 
bitter lesson to heart, and join with his old allies 
in saving the country. 

Before leaving Baltimore, the leaders of the 
Breckinridge party came to an explicit under- 
standing upon two important points. 

First, the northern men leceived fi-om Mr. 
Breckinridge and his southern supporters, not 
merely the strongest possible deolurations of de- 
votion to the Union and the Constitution, but a 
particular disavowal and repudiation of the cry 
then heard all over the South, that incase of the 
success of the republican party, the South would 
secede. There is no doubt in the minds of the 
well-informed, that Mr. Breckinridge was sincere 
in these professions, and it is known that he ad- 
hered to the Uniou, in his heart, down to the 
time, when war became evidently inevitable- 
There is reason, too, to believe that he has since 
bitterly regretted having abandoned the cause of 
his country. 

Secondly, the Breckinridge leaders at Balti- 
more arranged then- programme of future opera- 
tions. They were aware. of the certainly of their 
defeat. In all probability, the republicans would 
come into power. That party .(as the Breckin- 
ridge democrats supposed) being unused to gov- 



ern, and inheriting immense and uuexarai^kd 
difficulties, would break down, would quarrel 
among themselves, would become ridiculous or 
offensive, and so prepare the way for the triumph- 
ant return of the democracy to power in 18G5. 
Mr. Douglas, too, they thought, would destrov 
him.self, as a political power, by having wantoii- 
ly broken up his party. The democrats, then, 
would adhere to their young and popular candi- 
date, and elect him ; if not in IS 64, then in 1868. 
Having concluded these arrangements, they 
separated, to meet in Washington after the elec- 
tion, and renew the compact, or else to change 
it to meet any unexpected issue of the campaign. 
On his return to Lowell, General Butler found 
himself the mcst unpopular man in Massachu- 
setts. Not that Massachusetts approved the 
course or the character of Mr. Douglas. Not 
that Massachusetts was incapable of appreciating 
a bold and honest man, who stood in opposition 
to her cherished sentiments. It was because she 
saw one of her public men acting in conjunction 
with the party which seemed to her identified 
with that which threatened a disruption to the 
country if it should be fairly beaten in an election. 
The platform of that party was profoundly odious 
to her. It appeared to lier, not merely erron- 
eous, but immoral and monstrous, and she could 
not but feel that the northern supporters of it 
were guilty of a kind of subserviency that bor- 
dered upon baseness. She did not understand 
the series of events which would have compelled 
Mr. Douglas, if he had been elected, to go to un- 
imagined lengths in quieting the apprehensions 
of the South. She could not, in that time of in- 
tense excitement, pause to consider, that if Gen- 
eral Butler's course was wrong, it was, at least, 
disinterested and unequivocal. 

He was hooted in the streets of Lowell, and a 
public meeting, at which he was to give an ac- 
count of his stewardship, was broken up by a 
mob. 

A second meeting was called. General Butler 
then obtained a hearing, and justified his course 
in a speech of extraordinary Ibrce and cogency. 
He characterized the Douglas ticket as " two- 
taced," designed to win both sections, by deceiv- 
ing both. " Hurrah lor Johnson 1 he goes for 
intervention. Hurrah for Douglas! he goes for 
non-intervention unless the Supreme Court tells 
him to go the other way. Hurrah for Johnson 1 
he goes against popular sovereignty. Hurrah for 
Douglas! he goes for popular sovereignty if the 
Supieme Court will let him! RurraU lor John- 
son ! he is for disunion 1 Hurrah for Douglas I 
he is for the Union. 

He met the chaige brought against Mr. Breck- 
inridge of sympathy with southern disunionists. 
" By whom is this charge made ? By Pierre Soule, 
an avowed disunion. si, iu Louisiana ; by John 
Forsyth and tlie ' Atlanta Confederacy, ' in 
Georgia, which maintains the dutj' of the South 
to leave the Union if Lincoln is elected ; and yet 
these same men are the foremost of the southern 
supporters of Douglas ; by Gaulding of Georgia, 
who is now slumping the state for Douglas, 
making the same speecli that he made in the cou 
ventiou at Baltimore, where he argued that non- 
intervention meant that congress had no power to 
prevent the exportation of negroes from Africa, 
and that the slave trade was the true popular 
sovereignty in full expansion. 



14 



MASSACHUSETTS READY. 



'•Would you believe it, fellow-citizens, this 
speech was applauded in the Douglas convention, 
aud that too, by a delegate from Massachusetts, 
ay, aud from Middlesex county. 
' " When I left tliat convention, I declared that 
I would no longer sit where the Aincan slave 
trale, made piracy and feiony by tlie laws of my 
country, was openly advocated and applauded. 
Yet such, at tlie South, are the supporters of 
Douglas." 

General Butler was the Breciiinridge candidate 
for the governorship of ilassachusets. He had 
been a candidate for the same office a few j^ears 
before, aud had received the full support of his 
party, about 50,000 votes. On this occasion 
only 6,000 of his lellow-citizens cast their votes 
for him ; the whole number of voters being more 
than 170,000. 



CHAPTER II. 

MASSACHUSETTS READY. 

In December, 1860, Mr. Lincoln having been 
elected, and congress met, General Butler went 
to Washington, according to the agreement at 
Baltimore, in June, to confer with democratic 
leaders upon the future course of the party. 
South Carolina had gone through the form of 
seceding from the Union, and her tliree cum- 
missioners were at the capital, to present to the 
president the ordinance of secession, and nego- 
tiate tlie terms of separation. Regarding them- 
selves in the light of ambassadors, and expect- 
ing a long negotiation, they had taken a house, 
which served as the head-quarters of the mal- 
contents. Excitement and apprehension per- 
vaded all circles. General Butler, in visiting 
his southern friends, found that most of them 
considered eecession a fact accomplished, noth- 
ing remaining but to arrange the details. Mr. 
Breckinridge, however, still steadfast to his 
pledges, indignant, sorrowful, was using his 
influence to bring about a convention of the 
border states, which should stand between the 
two hostile bodies, and compel both to make the 
concessions supposed to be necessary for the 
preservation of tlie Union. By day and night 
he strove to stem the torrent of disafieciion, 
and bring the men of the South to rea.«on. He 
strove in vain. The movement which he en- 
deavored to effect was defeated by Virginians, 
particularly by Mason and Hunter. Finding 
his plan impossible, lie went about Washington, 
pale and haggard, the picture of despair, and 
sought relief, it is said, wliere despairing southern 
men are too apt to seek it, in the whisky 
bottle. 

" What does all this mean ?" asked General 
Butlfr, of an old southern democrat, a few hours 
after his arrival in Washington. 

'• It means simplv what it appears to mean. 
The Union is dead. Tiic e.Kperiment is liiiished. 
The attempt of two communities, having no 
interest in common, abiiorruig one another, to 
make believe that tiiey are one nation, lias 
ceased for ever. We shall establish a sound, 
homogeneous government, with no discordant 
elements. We shall have room for our uorthern 
friends. Come with us." 



"Have you counted the cost? Do you 
really think you can break up this Union ? Do 
you think so yourself?" 

" I do." 

" You are i:)repared, then, for civil war 7 You 
mean to bring tliis thing to the issue of arms ?" 

" Oh, there will be no war. The North won't 
fight." 

"The North will fight." 

"The North won't fight." 

'• The North will fight." 

" The North cauH fight. We have friends 
enough at the North to prevent it." 

" You have friends at the North as long as you 
remain true to the constitution. But let me tell 
you, that the moment it is seen that you mean 
to break up tie country, the North is a unit 
against you. I can answer, at least, for Massa- 
chusetts. She is good for ten thousand men to 
march, at once, against armed secession." 

" Massachusetts is not such a tool. If your 
state should send ten thousand men to preserve 
the Union against southern secession, she will 
have to fight twice ten thousand of her own 
citizens at home who will oppose the policj'." 

" No, sir ; when we come from Massachusetts 
we shall not leave a single traitor behind, unless 
he is hanging on a tree." 

" Well, we shall see." 

"You will see. I know something of the 
North, and a good deal about New England, 
where I was born and have lived forty-two 
years. We are pretty quiel there now because 
we don't believe that you mean to carry out 
your tlireats. We have heard the same story at 
every election these twenty years. Our people 
don't yet believe you are in earnest. But let 
me tell you this : As sure as you attempt to 
break up this Union, the North will resist the 
attempt to its last man and its last dollar. You 
are as certain to fail as that there is a God in 
Heaven. One thing you may do: you m.\v ruin 
the southern states, and extiuguisli your insti- 
tution of slavery. From the moment the first 
gun is fired upon the American flag, your slaves 
will not be worth five years' purchase. But as 
to breaking up the country, it can not be done. 
God and nature, and the blood of your fathers 
and mine have made it one ; and one -country it 
must remain." 

And so the war of words went on. The gen- 
eral visited his old acquaintances, the South 
Carolina commissioners, and with them he had 
similar conversations ; the substance of all being 
this: 

Secessionists: " The North won't fight." 
General Butler: "The North will fight." 
Secessionists : " If the North fights, its labor- 
ers will starve and overturn the government." 

General Butler: "If the South fights, there 
is an end of slavery." 

Secessionists : " Do you mean to say that yovi 
yourself would fight in such a cause ?" 

General Butler : " I would ; and, by the grace 
of God, 1 wilL" 

Tlie general sat at the table, once more, oi 
Jefferson Davis, for whom he had voted in the 
Charltstoii convention. Mr. Davis, at that time, 
appeared still to wish for a compromise and tho 
preservation of the Union. But he is a poiiii- 
cian. He gave in to the sentiment, that he owed 
allegiance, first to the state of Mississippi ; sec- 



MASSACHUSETTS EEADY. 



16 



oudly, to the United States ; which is the same 
as saying- that he owed no allegiance to the 
United States at all. So, if a majority of the 
legislature of Mississippi should pronounce for 
secession, he was bound to abandon that which, 
for fifty years, he had been proud to call his 
"country." 

In times like those, every man of originating 
mind has his scheme. If in the multitude of 
counselors there were safety, no country had 
been safer than this country was in December, 
1860, when Mr. Buchanan was assailed and 
confounded with advice from all quarters, near 
and remote, from friends and foes. Grcneral 
Butler, too, had an idea. As a leading member 
of the party in power, he was entitled to be 
listened to, and he was listened to. Mr. Black, 
the legal adviser of the government, had given 
it as his opinion, that the proceedings of South 
Carolina were legally definable as a " riot," 
which the force of the United States could not 
be lawfully used in suppressing. 

General Butler said to the attorney-general : — 
" You say that the government can not use its 
army and navy to coerce South Carolina in 
South Carolina.- Very well. I do not agree 
with you ; but let the proposition be granted. 
Now, secession is either a right, or it is treason. 
If it is a right, the sooner we know it the bet- 
ter. If it is treason, then the presenting of the 
ordinance of secession is an overt act of treason. 
These men are coming to the Wiiite House to 
present the ordinance to the president. Admit 
them. Let them present the ordinance. Let 
the president sa)"- to them : — ' Gentlemen, yon 
go hence in the custod}^ of a marshal of the 
United States, as prisoners of state, charged 
with treason against your country.' Summon a 
grand jury, here in Washington. Indict the 
comraissiouers. If any of your officers are back- 
ward in acting, you have the appointing power ; 
replace them with men who feel as men should, 
at a time hke this. Try the commissioners ' 
befcre the Supreme Court, with all the imposing | 
forms and stately ceremonial wliich marked the i 
trial of Aaron Burr. I have some reputation at I 
home as a criminal lawyer, and will stay here ! 
and help the district attorney through the trial | 
without fee or reward. If they are convicted, 
execute the sentence. If they are acquitted, you 
will have done something toward leaving a clear 
path for the incoming administration. Time 
will have been gained ; but the great advantage 
will be, that both sides will pause to watcli 
this high and dignified proceeding; the passions 
of men will cool ; the great points at issue will 
become clear to all parties; the mind of the 
country will be active while passion and preju- 
dice are allaj^ed. Meanwhile, if you can not 
use your army and navy in Charleston harbor, 
you can certainly employ them in keeping order 
here." 

This was General Butler's contribution to the 
grand eum total of advice with which the admin- 
istration was favored. Mr. Black seemed in- 
chned to recommend the measure. Mr Buchanan 
was of opinion, that it would cause a fearful agi- 
tation, and probably inflame the South to the 
point of beginning hostilities forthwith. Besides, 
these men claimed to be aml)assadors ; and though 
we could not admit the claim, still they had vol- 
untarily placed themselves in our power, and 



seemed to have a kind of right to be, at least, 
warned away, before we could honorably trust 
them as criminals or enemies. In vain General 
Butler urged that his object was simply to get 
their position defined by a competent tribunal; 
to ascertain whether they were, in realitj', am- 
bassadors or traitors. His scheme was that of a 
bold and stedfapt patriot prepared to go all 
lengths for his country. It could not but be 
rejected by Mr. Buchanan. 

General Butler frankly told the commissionera 
the advice he had given. 

" Why, you would'nt hang us, would you ? " 
said Mr. Orr. 

"Oh, no," replied the General; "not unless 
you were found guilty." 

Then came the electric news of Major Ander- 
son's " change of base " from Fort Moultrie to 
Fort Sumter; one of those trivial events which 
generally occur at times like those to decide the 
I question of peace or war. The future historian 
I will probably tell us, that there was never a 
j moment after that event when a peaceful solu 
I tion of the controversy waa possible. He will pro 
' bably show that it was the skillful use of that in- 
j cident, at a critical moment, which enabled the 
! secessionists of Georgia, frustrated till then, to 
commit that great state to the support of South 
Carolina; and Georgia is the empire state of the 
cotton South, whose delection involved that o» 
all the cotton states, as if by a law of nature. 

The president of the United States had allow- 
ed himself to promise the South Carolina com- 
missioners that no military movement should oc- 
cur in Charleston harbor during the negotiation 
at Washington. They promptly demanded the 
return of Major Anderson to Fort Moultrie. 
Floyd supported their demand. Mr. Buchanan 
consented. Then the commissioners, finding the 
president so pliant, demanded the total with- 
drawal of the troops from South Carolina, and 
Floyd supported them in that modest demand 
also. While the president stood hesitating upon 
the brink of this new inf;\my, the enormous 
frauds in Floyd's department Ciime to light, and 
his influence was at an end. The question of 
withdrawal being proposed to the cabinet, it was 
negatived, and the virtuous Floyd relieved his 
colleagues by resigning. Mr. Holt succeeded 
him; the government stiffened ; the commission- 
ers went home ; and General Butler, certain now 
that war was impending, prepared to depart. 

He had one last long interview with the south- 
ern leaders, at which the whole subject was gone 
over. For three hours he reasoned with them, 
demonstrating the folly of their course, and warn- 
ing them of final and disastrous failure. The 
conversation was friendly, though warm and 
earnest on both sides. Again he was invited to 
join them, and was offered a share in their enter- 
prise, and a place m that "sound and homogene- 
ous government," which they meant to establish. 
He left them no roo.ii to doubt that he took sides 
with his country, and that all he had, and all he 
was, should be freely risked in that country's 
cause. Late at niglit they separated to know 
one another no more except as mortal foes. 

The next morning. General Butler went to 
Senator Wd on, of Massachusetts, an old acquajn- 
tance, though long a political opponent, and told 
him that the southern leaders meant war. and 
urged him to join in advising the governor oi 



16 



MASSACHUSETTS EEADY. 



fcheir state to prepare the militia of Massachusetts 
for taking the field. 

At that time, and for some time longer, the 
soutliern men were divided among themselves 
respecting the best mode of beginning hostilities. 
The bolder spirits were for seizing Washington, 
preventing the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, and 
placing Breckinridge, if he would consent, or 
some other popular man if he would not, in the 
presidential mansion, who should issue a proc- 
lamation to tlie whole country, and endeavor to 
rally to his support a sufficient number of north- 
ern democrats to distract and paralyze the loyal 
Btates. That more prudent counsels prevailed 
was not from any sense of the turpitude of such 
treason, but from a conviction that if anything 
could rouse tlie North to armed resistance, it 
would be the seizure of t))e capital. Nothing 
short of that, thought the secessionists, would 
induce a money-making, pusillanimous people to 
leave tlieir shops and their counting-houses, to 
save their country from being broken to pieces 
and brought to nought. The dream of these 
traitors was Vo destroy their country witliout 
fighting ; and so the scheme of a coup d'etat was 
discarded. But General Butler left Washington 
beheving lliat the bolder course was the one 
which would be adopted. He believed this the 
more readily, because it was the course which 
he would have advised, had he, too, been a trai- 
tor. One thing, however, he considered abso- 
lutely certain : there was going to be a war be- 
tween Loyalty and Treason ; between the Slave 
Power and the Power which had so long pro- 
tected and fostered it. 

He found the North anxious, but still incred- 
ulous. He went to Governor Andrew, and gave 
him a full relation of what he had heard and seen 
at Washington, and advised him to get the mi- 
iitia of the state in readiness to move at a day's 
notice. He suggested that all the men should 
be quietly withdrawn from the militia force who 
were either unable or unwilling to leave the 
state for the defense of the capital, and their 
places supplied with men who could and would. 
The governor, though he could scarcely yet 
believe that war was impending, adopted the 
suggestion. About one-half the men resigned 
their places in the militia ; the vacancies were 
quickly fiJled ; and many of the companies dur- 
ing the winter months, drilled every evening 
in the week, except Sundays. General Butler 
further advised that two thousand overcoats be 
made, as the men were already provided with 
nearly every requsite for marching, except those 
indispensable garments, which could not be ex- 
temporized. To this suggestion there was stur- 
dy opposition, since it involved the expenditure 
of twenty thousand dollars, and that for an exi- 
gency which Massticliusetts did not believe was 
likely to occur. One genthimen, high in office, 
said that General Butler made the proposal in 
the interest of the moths of Boston, which alone 
would get any good of the overcoats. Others 
iusiiiualed that he only wanted a good contract 
for the Middlesex Woolen Mills, in which he 
was a large shareholder. The worthy and pa- 
triotic governor, however, strongly recommended 
the measure, and the overcoats were begun. 
The last stitches in the last hundred of them 
were performed while the men stood drawn up 
on the ommon waiting to strap them to their 



knapsacks before getting into the cars for Wash- 
ington. 

Having thus assisted in preparing Massachu- 
setts to march, General Butler resumed his prac- 
tice at the bar, vibrating between Boston and 
Lowell as of old, not without mucli inward cliaf- 
ing at tiio humiliating spectacle which the coun- 
try presented during those dreary, shameful 
months. One incident cheered the gloom. One 
word was uttered at Washington which spoke 
the heart of the country. One man in the cab- 
inet felt as patriots feel when the flag of their 
country is tlireatened with dialionor. One order 
was given which did not disgrace the govern- 
ment from which it issued. "If any one at- 
tempts TO HAUL DOWN THE AMERICAN FLAG 
SHOOT HIM ON THE SPOi" !" " When I read it," 
wrote General Butler to General Dix long alter, 
'•my heart bounded with joy. It was the first 
bold stroke in favor of the Union under the past 
administration," He had the pleasure of send- 
ing to General Dix, from New Orleans, the iden- 
tical flag which was the object of the order, and 
tlie confederate flag which was hoisted in its 
place ; as well as of recommending for promotion 
the sailor, David Ritchie, who contrived to snatch 
both flags from the cutter when traitors abandon- 
ed and burnt her as Captain Parragut's fleet drew 
near. 

The fifteenth of April arrived. Fort Sumter 
liad fallen. The president's proclamation call- 
ing for troops was issued. In the morning came 
a telegram to Governor Andrew from Senator 
Wilson, asking that twenty companies of Massa- 
chiisetts militia be instantly dispatched to defend 
the seat of government. A few hours after, the 
formal requisition arrived from the secretary of 
war calling for two full regiments. At quarter 
before five that afternoon. General Butler was in 
in court at Boston trying a cause. To him came 
Colonel Edward F. Jones, of the Sixth regiment, 
bearing an order from Governor Andrew, direct- 
ing him to muster his command forthwith in 
Boston common, in readiness to proceed to Wash- 
ington. This regiment was one of General But- 
ler's brigade, its head-quarters being Lowell, 
twenty-five miles distant, and the companies 
scattered over forty miles of country The gen- 
eral endorsed the order, and at five Colonel Jones 
was on the Lowell train. There was a 'good 
deal of swift riding done that night in the region 
roundabout Lowell; and at eleven o'clock on 
the day following, there was Colonel Jonea 
with his regiment on Boston common. Not less 
prompt were the Third and Eighth regiments, for 
they began to arrive in Boston as early as nine, 
each company welcomed at the dep6t by applaud- 
ing thousands. The Sixth regimeut,it was deter- 
mined, should go first, and the governor deemed 
it best to strengthen it with two additional com- 
panies. 

The general, too, was going. During the 
night following the 15th of April, he had been 
at work with Colonel Jones getting the Sixtii 
together. On the morning of the 16t!i, he was 
in the cars, as usual, going to Boston, and with 
him rode Mr. James G. Carney, of Lowell, presi- 
dent of the Bank of Redemption, in Boston. 

"The governor will want money," said the 
general. "Can not the Bank of Redemption 
offer a temporary loan of fifty thousand dollar? 
to help ofif the troops ?" 



MASSACHUSETTS READY. 



r, 



It can, and shall, was tlie reply, iii substance, 
of the president; and in the course of the 
morning, a note offering the loan vvus in the 
governor's hands. 

General Butler went not to court that nsorn- 
iug. As yet, no brigadier had been ordered 
into service, but there was one brigadier who 
was on fire to serve ; one who, from the first 
summons, had been resolved to go, and to stay 
t,o the end of the fight, whether he went as 
private or as lieutenant-general. Farewell the 
learned plea, and" the big fees that swell the 
lawyer's bank account 1 Farewell the spirit- 
stirring speech, the solemn bench, and all the 
pomp and circumstance of glorious law 1 Gen- 
eral Butler's occupation was about to be changed. 
He telegraphed to Mr. Wilson, asking him to 
remind Mr. Cameron, that a brigade required a 
brigadier ; and back from Washington came an 
order calling for a brigade of four full regiments, 
to be commanded by a brigadier-general. 

That point gained, the next was to induce 
Governor Andrew to select the particular brig- 
adier whom General Butler had in his miijd 
when he dispatched the telegram to Mr. Wilson. 
There were two whose commissions were of 
older date than his own ; General Adams and 
General Pierce ; the former sick, the latter de- 
siring the appointment. General Pierce had the 
advantage of being a political ally of the gov- 
ernor. On the other hand, General Butler had 
suggested tlie measures which enabled the 
troops to take the field, had got the loan of 
fifty thousand dollars, had procured the order 
for a brigadier. He was, moreover, Benjamin 
F. Butler, a gentleman not unknown in Boston, 
tliough long veiled from the general view by a 
set of obstinately held unpopular political opin- 
ions. These considerations, aided, perhaps, by 
a little wire-pulling, prevailed; and in the 
morning of the ITth, at ten o'clock, he received 
the order to take command of the troops. 

All that day he worked as few men can work. 
There were a thousand things to do ; but there 
wei'e a thousand willing hearts and hands to 
help. The Sixth regiment was oft' in the after- 
noon, addressed before it moved by Governor 
Andrew and General Butler. Two regiments 
were embarked on board a steamer for Fortress 
Monroe, then defended by two companies of 
regular artillery — a tempting prize for the rebels. 
Late at night, the General went home to bid 
farewell to his family, and prepare for his final 
departure. The next morning, back again to 
Boston, accompanied by his brother. Colonel 
Andrew Jackson Butler, who chanced to be on 
?. visit to his ancient home, after eleven years' 
residence in California; where, with Broderick 
and Hooker, he had already done battle against 
the slave power, the lamented Broderick having 
died in his arms. He served now as a volunteer 
aid to the General, and rendered good service on 
the eventful march. At Boston, General Butler 
stopped at his accustomed barber-shop. While 
he was under the artist's hands, a soldier of the 
departed Sixth regiment came in sorrowful, 
begging to be excused from duty ; saying that 
he had left his wife and three children crying. 

"I am not the man for you to come to, sir," 
said the General, "for I have just done the 
same," and straightway sent for a policeman to 
arrest him as a deserter. 



A hurried visit to the steamer h-^uud foi 
Fortress Monroe. All was in readinosa tbore. 
Tiien to the Eighth regiment, on tie oomjion, 
which he was to conduct to VVasbmgt'ja by 
way of Baltimore; no intimation of the imnend- 
ing catastrophe to the Sixth having yet been 
received. The Eighth marched to the cars, 
and rolled away from the depot, followed by 
the benedictions of assembled Boston ; saluted 
at every station on the way by excited multi 
tudes. At Springfield, where there was a brio' 
delay to procure from the armory tlie means of 
repairing muskets, the regiment was joined by a 
valuable company, under Captain Henry S. Brigga 
Thence, to New York. Tiie Broadway march of 
the regiment ; their breakfast at the Metropolitan 
and Astor ; their push through the crowd to 
Jersey City; the tumultuous welcome iu New 
Jersey; the continuous roar of cheers across the 
state; the arrival at Philadelphia in the after- 
noon of the memorable nineteenth of April, who 
can have forgotten? 

Fearful news met the general and the regi- 
ment at the depot. The Sixth regiment, in its 
march through Baltimore that afternoon, had 
been attacked by the mob, and there had beei; 
a conflict, in which men on both sides had fallen ! 
So much was fact ; but, as inevitably happens 
at such a time, the news came with appalling 
exaggerations, which could not be corrected ; 
for soon the telegraph ceased working, the last 
report being that the bridges at the Maryland 
end of the railroad were burning, and that 
Washington, threatened with a hostile army, 
was isolated and defenseless. Never since the 
days when " General Benjamin Franklin" led a 
little army of Philadclphians against the Indians 
after Braddock's defeat, the Indians ravaging 
and scalping within sixty miles of the city, and 
e.xpected soon to appear on the banks of the 
Schuylkill, had Philadelphia been so deeply 
moved with mingled anger and apprehension. 
The first blood shed in a war sends a thrill of 
rage and horror through all hearts, and this blood 
shed in Baltimore streets, was that of the coun- 
trymen, the neighbors, the relatives of these 
newly arrived troops. A thousand wild rumors 
filled the air, and uotliing was too terrible to be 
believed. He was the great man of the group, 
who had the most incredible story to tell ; and 
each listener went his way to relate the tale 
with additions derived from his own frenzied 
imagination. 

General Butler's orders directed him to march 
to Washington by way of Baltimore. That 
having become impossible, the day being far 
spent, his men fatigued, and the New York 
Seventh coming, he marched his regiment to the 
vacant Girard House for a night's rest, where 
hospitable, generous Philadelphia gave them 
bountiful entertainment. The regiment slept 
the sleep that tired soldiers know. 

For General Butler there was neither sleep 
nor rest that night, nor for his fraternal aid-de- 
camp. There was telegraphing to the governor 
of Massachusetts ; there were consultations with 
Commodore Dupont, commandant of the Navy 
Yard; there were interviews with Mr. Felton, 
president of the Philadelphia and Baltimore 
railroad, a son of Massachusetts, full of patriotic 
zeal, and prompt w'th needful advice and help ; 
there was poring over maps and gazetteers. 



18 



MASSACHUSETTS KEADT. 



Meanwhile, Culonel A. J. Builer was out in the 
dtreets, buying pickaxes, shovels, tinware, pro- 
visious, and all that was necessary to enable the 
troops to take the field, to subsist oa array 
rations, to repair bridges and railroads, and to 
ihrow up breastworks. All Maryland was sup- 
posed to be ill arms ; but the general was going 
through ^Maryland. • 

Before the evening was far advanced, he had 
determined upon a plan of operations, and sum- 
moned his officers to make them acquainted 
with it — not tu shun responsibility by asking 
their opinion, nor to waste precious time in dis- 
cussion. They found upon his table thirteen 
revolvers. He explained his design, pointed 
out its probable and its possible dangers, and 
saitl that, as some might censure it as rash and 
reckless, he was resolved to take the sole res- 
ponsibility himself. Taking up one of the 
revolvers, he invited every officer who was 
willing to accompany him to signify it by ac- 
cepting a p.stol. Tiie pistols Vi-ere all insti.atly 
appropriated. The officers departed, and the 
general then, in great hasto. and amid ceaseless 
interruptions, sketched a memorandum of his 
plan, to be sent to the governor of Massachusetts 
after his departure, that his friends might know, 
if he should be swallowed up in the maelstrom 
of secession, what he had intended to do. Manv 
sentences of this paper betray the circumstances 
in which they were written. 

•' My proposition is to join with Colonel Lef- 
ferts of the Seventh regiment of New York. I 
propose to take the fifteen hundred troops to 
Annapolis, arriving there to-morrow about fo-jp 
o'clock, and occupy the capitaJ cf Maryland, and 
thus call the state to account for the death of 
Massachusetts men, my friends and neighbors. 
If Colonel Letferts thinks it more in accordance 
with the tenor of his instructions to wait rather 
than go through Baltimore, I stiU propo-ie to 
march with this regiment. I propose to occupy 
the town, and hold it open as a means of com- 
munication. I have then but to advance by a 
forced march of thirtj^ miles to reach the capital, 
in accordance with the orders I at first received, 
but which subsequent events in my judgment 
vary in theh- execution, believing from the tele- 
graphs that there will be others in great num- 
bers to aid me. Being accompanied by officers 
of more experience, who will be able to direct 
the afiair, I think it will be accomplished. We 
have no light batteries ; I have therefore tele- 
graphed to Governor Andrew to have the Boston 
Light Battery put on shipboard at once, to-night, 
to help me in marching on Washington. In 
pursuance of this plan, I have detailed Captains 
Devereux and Briggs with their commands to 
hold the boat at Havre de Grace. 

" Eleven, a. m. Colonel Lefferts has re/used 
to march with me. I go alone at three o'clock, 
P. M., to execute this imperfectly written plan. 
If I succeed, success will justify me. If I fail, 
purity of intention will excuse want of judgment 
or rashness." 

The plan was a little changed in the morning, 
when the rumor prevailed that the ferry-boat at 
Havre de Grace had been seized and barricaded 
by a large force of rebels. The two companies 
were not sent forward. It was determined that 
the regiment should go in a body, seize the boat 
and use it for transporting the troops to Annapolis. 



" I may have to sink or burn your boat," said 
the general to Mr. i^elton. 

"Do so," replied the president, and immedi- 
ately wrote an order authorizing its destruction, 
if necessary. 

It L&d been the design of General Butler, as 
we navj ss^r to leave Philadelphia in the morn- 
ing traJc • but he delayed his departure in the 
hope that Golcnel Leflerts might be induced to 
share in the expedition. The Seventh had arri- 
ved at sunrise, and General Butler made known 
his plan to Colonel Lefferts, and invited his co- 
operation. That officer, suddenly intrusted with 
the lives (but the honor also) of nearly a thousand 
of the flower of tlie young men of New York, 
was overburdened with a sense of responsibility, 
and felt it to be his duty to consult his officers. 
The consultation was long, and, I believe, not 
harmonious, and the result was, that the Seventh 
embarked in the afternoon in a steamboat at 
Philadelphia, with the design of going to Wash- 
ington by the Potomac river, leaving to the men 
of Massachusetts the honor and the danger of 
opening a path through Maryland. It is impos- 
sible lor a New Yorker, looking at it in the light 
of subsequent events, not to regret, and keenly 
regret, the refusal of officers of the favorite New 
York regiment to join General Butler in his bold 
and wise movement. But tl— y had not the light 
of subsequent events to tiid them in their delib- 
erations, and they, doubtless, thought that their 
first duty vas Vj hasten to the protection of 
Washington, and avoid the risk of detention by 
the way. It happened on this occasion, as in so 
many others, that the bold course was also the 
prudent and successful one. The Seventh waa 
obliged, after all, to take General Butler's road 
to Washington. 

At eleven in the morning of the twentieth of 
April, the Eighth Massachusetts regiment moved 
slowly away trom the depot in Broad street toward 
Havre de Grace, where the Susquehaunah river 
empties into the Chesapeake Bay — forty miles 
from Philadelphia, sixty-four from Annapolis. 
General Butler went through each car explain- 
ing the plan of attack, and giving the requsite 
orders. His design was to halt the traiii one 
mile from Havre de Grace, advance his two best 
drilled companies as skirmishers, follow quickly 
with the regiment, rush upon the barricades and 
carry them at the point of the ba}'onet, pour 
headlong into the ferry-boat, drive out the rebels, 
get up steam and start for Annapolis. 

Having assigned to each company its place in 
the line, and given all due explanation to each 
captain, the general took a seat and instantly foil 
asleep. 

And now, the bustle being over, upon all these 
worthy men fell that seriousness, that solemnity, 
which comes to those who value their lives, and 
whose lives are valuable to others far aw^ay, but 
who are about, for the first time, to incur mortal 
peril for a cause which they feel to be greater 
and dearer than life. Goethe tells us that valor 
can neither be learned nor forgotten. I do uo: 
believe it. Certainly, the first peril does, in some 
degree, appal the firmest heart, especially when 
that peril is quietly approached on the easy seat 
of a railway car during a two hours' ride. Scarcely 
a word was spoken. Many of the men s;i-. 
erect, grasping their muskets firmly, and lookiiifs, 
anxiously out of the windows. 



ANNAPOLIS. 



19 



One man blenched, and one onlj. The general 
was atartJed from his sleep by the cry of, '• Man 
overboard I" The train was stopped. A soldier 
was seen running across the tields as thougii 
pursued by a mad dog. Panic had seized him, 
and he had jumped from a car, incurring ten 
times the danger from which he strove to escape. 
The general started a group of country people in 
pursuit, offering them the lawful thirty dollars if 
ihey brought die deserter to Havre de Grace in 
time. The train moved again : the incident 
broke the spell, and the cars were filled with 
laughter. The man was brought in. His ser- 
geant's stripe was torn from his arm, and he was 
glad to compound his punishment by serving the 
regiment in the capacity of a menial. 

At the appointed place, the train was stopped, 
the regiment was formed, and marched toward 
the ferry-boat, skirmishers in advance. It mus- 
tered thirteen officers and seven hundred and 
eleven men. 



CHAPTER III. 



ANNAPOLI& 



It was a false alarm. There was not an armed 
enemy at Havre de Grace. The ferry-boat 
Maryland lay at her moorings in the peaceful 
possession of her crew ; and nothing remamed 
but to get up steam, put on board a supply of 
coal, water and provisions, embark the troops, 
and start for Annapolis. 

Whether the captain and crew were loyal or 
treasonable — whether they were likely to steer 
the boat toA nnapolis or to Baltimore, or run her 
ashore on some traitorous coast, were questions 
much discussed among officers and men. The 
captain professed the most ardent loyalty, and 
General Butler was more inclined to trust him 
than some of his officers were. There were men 
on board, however, who knew the way to Anna- 
polis, and were abundantly capable of navigating 
any craft on any sea. It was resolved, therefore, 
to permit the captain to command the steamer, 
but to keep a shart lookout ahead, and an unob- 
served scrutiny of the engine-room. Upon the 
first indication of treachery, captain and engi- 
neers should find themselves in an open boat upon 
the Chesapeake, or stowed away in the hold, 
their places supplied with seafaring Marblehead- 
ers. Never before, I presume, had such a vari- 
ously skilled body of men gone to war as the 
Massachusetts Eighth. It was not merely that 
all trades and professions had their representa- 
tives among them, but some of the companies 
had almost a majority of college-bred men. 
Major Winthrop did not so much exaggerate 
when he said, that if the word were given, 
'Poets to the front!"' or '' Painters present 
arms!'' or "Sculptors charge bayonets!" a 
baker's dozen out of every company would re- 
spond. Navigating a steamboat was the sim- 
plest of all tasks to many of them. 

At six in the evening they were oflf, packed 
as close as negi'oes in the steerage of a slave 
ship. Darkness closed in upon them, and the 
men lay down to sleep, each with his musket in 
his hands. The general, in walking from one 
part of the boat to another, stumbled over and 



trod upon many a growling sleeper. He was too 
anxious upon the stiU unsettled point of the cap- 
tain's fidelity to sleep ; so he went prowling about 
am(>ng the prostrate men, exchanging notes with 
those who had an eye upon the compass, and 
with those who were observing the movements 
of the engineers. There were moments when 
suspicion was strong in some minds ; but cap- 
tain and engineers did their duty, and at mid- 
night the boat was off the ancient city of Anna- 
polis. 

They had, naturally enough, expected to come 
upon a town wrapped in midnight slumber. 
There was no telegraphic or other communication 
with the Nortli ; how could Annapolis, then, 
know that they were coming? It certainly 
could not ; yet the whole town was evidently 
awake and astir. Eockets shot up into the sky. 
Swiftly moving lights were seen on shore, and 
all the houses in sight were lighted up. The 
buildings of the Naval Academy were lighted. 
There was every appearance of a town in ex- 
treme commotion. It had been General Butler's 
intention to land quietly while the city slept, 
and astonish the dozing inhabitants in the morn- 
ing with a brilliantly executed reveille. Noting 
these signs of disturbance, he cast anchor and 
determined to delay his landing till daylight. 

Colonel Andrew Jackson Butler volunteered 
to go on shore alone, and endeavor to ascertain 
the cause of the commotion. He was almost 
the only man in the party who wore plain clothes 
The general consenting, a boat was brought 
round to the gangway, and Colonel Butler 
stepped into it. As he did so he handed his 
revolver to a friend, saying, that he had no 
intention of fighting a tovm full of people, and 
if he was taken prisoner, he preferred that his 
pistol should fight, during the war, on the Union 
side. The brother in command assured him, 
that if any harm came to him in Annapolis, it 
would be extremely bad for Annapolis. The 
gallant colonel settled himself to his work, anu 
gfided away into the darkness. 

The sound of oars was again heard, and a 
boat was descried approaching the steamer. A 
voice from the boat said : 

" "What steamer is that ?" 

The steamer was as silent as though it were 
filled with dead men. 

""What steamer Ls that?" repeated the voice. 

No answer. The boat seemed to be making 
off. 

" Come on board," thundered General Butler 

No reply from the boat. 

■' Come on board, or I'll fii-e into you,"' said 
the general. 

The boat approached, and came alongside. It 
was rowed by four men, and in the stern sat an 
officer in the uniform of a lieutenant of the 
United States navy. The officer stepped on 
board, and was conducted by General Butler to 
his cabin, where, the door being closed, a curi- 
ous colloquy ensued. 

" "Who are you ?" asked the lieutenant. 

" "Who are you f said the general 

He replied that he was Lieutenant Matthews, 
attached to the Naval Academy, and was sent 
by Captain Blake, commandant of the post, and 
chief of the Naval Academy, who directed him 
to say that they must not land. He had, also, 
an order from Governor Hicks to the aame effect, 



120 



ANNAPOLIS. 



The United Slates quartermaster had requested 
him to add from Lieutenant-GeDeral Scott, that 
there were no moans of transportation at Anna- 
polis. 

General Butler was still uncommunicative. 
Both gentlemen were in a distrustful state of 
mind. 

The truth was that Captain Blake had been, for 
forty-eight hours, in momentary expectation of an 
irruption of " Plug Uglies," from Baltimore, either 
by sea or land. He was surrounded by a popula- 
tion stolidly hostile to the United States The 
school-ship Constitution, which lay at the academy 
wharf was aground, and weakly manned. Ke 
had her guns shotted, and was prepared to fight 
her to the last man ; but she was an alluring 
prize to traitors, and he was in dread of an 
overpowering force. "Large parties of seces- 
sionists," as the oflScers of the ship afterwards 
testified, " were round the ship every day, noting 
her assailable points. The militia of the county 
were drilled in sight of the ship during the day 
time ; during the night signals were exchanged 
along the banks and across the river, but the ' 
character of the preparation, and the danger w j 
the town in case of an attack, as one of the j 
batteries of the ship was pointed directly upon j 
it, deterred them from cai'rying out their plans. 
During this time the Constitution had a crew of 
about twenty-five men, and seventy-six of the 
youngest class of midshipmen, on board. The 
ship drawing more water than there was on the 
bar, the secessionists thought she would be in 
their power, whenever they would be in suffi- 
cient force to take her." In these circumstances. 
Captain Blake, a native of Massachusetts, who 
had grown gray in his country's service, as loyal 
and stedfast a heart as ever beat, was tortured 
with anxiety for the safety of the trust which 
his country had committed to him. Upon seeing 
the steamer, he had concluded that here, at last, 
were the Baltimore ruffians, come to seize his 
ship, and lay waste the academy. Secessionists 
in the town were prepared to sympathize, if not 
to aid in the fell business. All Annapolis, for 
one reason or another, was in an agony of desire 
to know vv^ho and what these portentous mid- 
night voyagers were. Captain Blake, his ship 
all ready to open fire, had sent the lieutenant to 
make certain that the new-comers were enemies, 
before beginning the congenial work of blowing 
them out of the water. 

General Butler and the lieiitenant contin- 
ued for some time to question one another, 
without either of them arriving at a satisfactory 
conclusion as to the loyalty of the other. The 
general, at length, announced his name, and de- 
clared his intention of marching by way of 
Annapolis to the relief of "Washington. The 
lieutenant informed him that the rails were torn 
Tip, the cars removed, and the people unanimous 
against the marching of any more troops over 
the soil of Maryland. The general intimated 
that the men of his command could dispense 
with rails, cars, and the consent of the people. 
They were bound to the city of Washington, and 
expected to make their port. Meanwhile, he 
would send an officer with him on shore, to 
confer with the governor of the slate, and the 
authorities of the city. 

Captain P. Haggerty, aid-de-camp, was dis- 
patched upon this errand. He was conveyed to 



the town, where he was soon conducted to the 
presence of the governor and the mayor, to 
whom he gave the requisite explanations, and 
declared General Butler's intention to land. 
Those dignitaries finding it necessary to confer 
together, Captain Haggerty was shown into an 
adjoining room, where he was discovered an 
hour or two later, fast asleep on a lounge. Lieu- 
tenant Matthews was charged by the governor 
with two short notes to General Butler, one 
from himself, and another from the aforesaid 
quartermE^ster. The document signed by the 
governor, read as follows : 

" I would most earnestly advise, that you do 
not land your men at Annapolis. The excite- 
ment here is very great, and I think it prudent 
that you should take your men elsewhere. I 
have telegraphed to the secretary of war against 
your landing your men here." 

This was addressed to the " Commander of 
the Volunteer troops on Board the Steamer." 
The quartermaster. Captain Morris J. Miller, 
wrote thus : 

" Having been intrusted by General Scott 
with the arrangements for transporting your 
regiments hence to "Washington, and it being 
impracticable to procure cars, I recommend, that 
the troops remain on board the steamer until 
further orders can be received from General 
Scott." 

This appears to have been a mere freak of the 
captain's imagination, since no troops were ex- 
pected at Annapolis by General Scott. 

Captain Haggerty returned on board "the 
steamer," and the notes were delivered to the 
general commanding. 

"What had befallen Colonel Butler, meanwhile? 
Upon leaving the steamer, he rowed towards the 
most prominent object in view, and soon found 
himself alongside of what proved to be a wharf 
of the Naval Academy. He had no sooner 
fastened his boat and stepped ashore, than he 
was seized by a sentinel, who asked him what 
he wanted. 

" I want to see the commander of the post." 

To Captain Blake he was, accordingly, taken. 
Colonel Butler is a tall, fully developed, imposing 
man, devoid of the slightest resemblance to the 
ideal " Plug Ugly." Captain Blake, venerable 
with years and faithful service on many seas, in 
many lands, was not a person likely to be mis- 
taken for a rebel. Yet these two gentlemen 
eyed one another with intense distrust. The 
navy had not then been sifted of all its traitors; 
and upon the mind of Captain Blake, the appre- 
hension of violent men fi-om Baltimore had been 
working for painful days and nights. He re- 
ceived the stranger with reticent civility, and 
invited him to be seated. Probing questions 
were as'iced by both, eliciting vague replies, or 
none. These two men were Yankees, and each 
was resolved that the other should declare him- 
self first. After long fencing and " beating 
about the bush," Colonel Butler expressed him- 
self thus: 

" Captain Blake, we may as well end this now 
as at any other time. Tliey are Yankee troops 
on board that boat, and if I don't get back 
pretty soon, they will open fire upon you." 

The worthy Captain drew a long breath of 
relief Full explanations on both sides followed, 
and Captain Blake said he would visit Genera. 



ANNAPOLIS. 



21 



Bntler at daybreak. Colonel Butler returned on 
board the Maryland. 

The general was soon ready with his reply to 
the note of Governor Hicks. 

To the governor: "I had the honor to re- 
ceive your note by the hands of Lieutenant 
Matthews, of the United States Naval School at 
Annapolis. I am sorry that your excellency 
should advise against my landing here. I am 
not provisioned for a long voyage. Finding the 
ordinary means of communication cut ofl" by the 
burning of railroad bridges by a mob, I have 
been obhged to make this detour, and hope that 
your excellency will see, from the very neces- 
sity of ihe case, that there is no cause of excite- 
ment in the mind of any good citizen because 
of our being driven here by an extraordinary 
casualty. I should, at once, obey, however, an 
order from the secretary of war."' 

Captain Blake came off to the steamer at 
dawn of day, and soon found himself at home 
among his countrj^men. 

" Can you help me off with the Constitution? 
Will your orders permit you ?" 

" I have got no orders," replied the general. 
" I am making war on my own hook. But we 
can't be wrong in saving the Constitution. That 
is, certainlj'-, what we came to do." 

How the regiment now went to work with a 
will to save the Constitution ; how the Maryland 
moved up along side, and put on board t!;s 
Salem Zouaves for a guard, and a hundred Mar- 
bleheaders for sailors; how they tugged, and 
tramped, and lightened, and heaved, and tugged, 
and tugged again ; how groups of sulky secesh 
stood scowling around, muttering execrations : 
how the old frigate was started from her bed of 
mud at length, amid such cheers as Annapolis 
had never heard before, and has not heard since. 
Captain Blake bursting into tears of joy after 
the long strain upon his nerves ; these things 
have been told, and have not been forgotten. 

But the ship was not yet safe, though she was 
moving slowly toward safety. General Butler 
had now been positively assured that the cap- 
tain of his ferry boat was a traitor at heart, and 
would like nothing better than to run both 
steamer and frigate on a mud bank. He doubted 
the statement, which indeed was false. The 
man was half paralyzed with terror, and was 
thinking of nothing but how to get safely out of 
the hands of these terrible men. Nevertheless, 
the general deemed it best to make a remark or 
two by way of fortifying his virtuous resolutions, 
and neutralizing any hints be may have received 
from people on the shore. The engine-room he 
knew was conducted in the interest of the 
United States, for he had given it in charge to 
four of his own soldiers. He had no man in 
his command who happened to be personally 
acquainted with the shallows of the river Sev- 
ern. 

•'Captain," said he, "have you faith in my 
word?" 

•' Yes," said the captain. 

"I am told that you mean to run us aground. 
I think not. If you do, as God Uves and you 
live, I'll blow your brains out." 

The poor captain, upon hearing these words, 
evinced symptoms of terror so remarkable, as to 
convince General Butler that if any mishap 
befell the vessels, it would not be owing to any 



disaffection on the part of the gentleman in the 
pilot-house. 

All seemed to be going well. The general 
dozed in his chair. He woke to find the Mary- 
land fast in the mud. Believing the captain'3 
protestations, and the navigation beiug really 
difficult, he did not molest his brains, which 
were already sufficiently discomposed, but or- 
dered him into confinement. The frigate was 
still afloat, and was, soon after, towed to a safe 
distance by a tug. The Eighth Massachusetts 
could boast that it had rendered an important 
service. But there the regiment was upon a 
bank of mud ; provisions nearly consumed ; 
water casks dry ; and the sun doing its duty. 
There was nothing to be done but wait for the 
rising of the tide, and, in the mean time, to re- 
plenish the water casks from the shore. The 
meu were tired and hungry, black with coal 
dust-, and tormented with thirst, but still cheerful, 
and even merrj' ; and in the twihght of the Sun- 
day evening, the strains of rehgious hymns rose 
from groups who, on the Sunday before sang 
them in the choirs of village churches at home. 
The officers, as they champed their biscuit, and 
cut their pork with pocket knives, laughingly 
alluded to the superb breakfast given them on 
the morning of their departure from Philadelphia 
by Paran Stephens at the Continental. Mr. 
Stephens, a son of Massachusetts, had employed 
all the resources of his house in giving his 
countrymen a parting meal. The sudden plunge 
from luxury brought to the perfection of one of 
the fine arts, to army rations, scant in quantity, 
ill-cooked, and a short allowance of warm water, 
was the constant theme of jocular comparison 
on board the Maryland. It was a well-worn 
joke to call for delicate and ludicrously impos- 
sible dishes, which were remembered as figuring 
in the Continental's bill of fare ; the demand 
being gravely answered by the allowance of a 
biscuit, an inch of salt pork, and a tin cup half 
full of water. 

General Butler improved the opportunity of 
going on shore. He met Governor Hicks and 
the mayor of Annapolis, who agahi urged him 
not to think of landing. All Maryland, they 
said, was on the point of rushing to arms; the 
railroad was impassable, and guarded by 
armed men ; terrible things could not fail t© 
happen, if the troops attempted to reach Wash- 
ington. 

"I mwsi land," said the general; "my men 
are hungry. I could not even leave without 
getting a supply of provisions." 

They declared that no one in Annapolis would 
sell him anything. To which the general replied 
that he hoped better things of the people of 
Annapolis; but, in any case, a regiment of hun- 
gry soldiers were not limited to the single meth- 
od of procuring supplies usually practiced in 
time of peace. There were modes of getting 
food other than the simple plan of purchase. 
Go to Washington he must and should, with or 
without the assistance of the people of Anna- 
polis. The governor still refiised his consent, 
and, the next day, put his refusal into writing; 
"protesting against the movement, which, in *'he 
excited condition of the people of this state, I 
can not but consider an unwise step on the part 
of the government. But," he added, " I must 
earnestly urge upon yoa, that there shall be no 



22 



ANNAPOLIS. 



halt made by the troops in this city." No halt? 
Seveu hundred aud twenty-four fami.shing men, 
with a march of thirty miles before them, wore 
expected to pass by a city aboniidiug in provis- 
ions, and not halt ! G-reat is Buncombe ! 

Another night t( as passed on board the Mary- 
land. The dawn of .Monday morning brought 
with it a strange apparition — a steamer approach- 
ing from the sea. crammed with troops, their 
arms soon glittering in the rays of the rising sun. 
Who could they be? They cheered the stars 
and stripes waving from the mast of tlie rescued 
Constitution ; so they were not enemies, at least. 

The steamer proved to be the Boston, with 
the New York Seventh on board, thirty-six 
hours from Philadelphia. They had steamed to- 
ward the mouth of the Potomac, but, on speak- 
ing the light-ships, were repeatedly told that the 
secessionists had stationed batteries of artillery 
on the banks of the river, for the purpose of pre- 
venting the ascent of troops. There was no 
truth in the storj', but it seemed probable enough 
at that mad time ; and, tlierefore, Colonel LeSerts, 
after the u.sual consultation, deemed it most pru- 
dent to change his course, and try General But- 
lers road to the capital ; the regiment by no 
means relishing the change. Tlie two regiments 
exchanged vigorous volleys of cheers, and pre- 
parations were soon made for getting the Mary- 
land ;\float. 

General Butler, counting now upon Colonel 
Leffert's hearty co-operation, issued to his own 
troops a cheering order of the day. 

The Maryland could not be floated. The men 
threw overboard coal and crates, and all heavy 
articles that could be spared. The Boston 
tugged her strongest. The Eighth ran in masses 
from side to side, and from end to end. After 
many hours of strenuous exertion, the men 
suffering extremely from thirst and hunger, the 
general himself not tasting a drop of liquid for 
twelve hours, the attempt was given up, and it 
was resolved that the Boston should land the 
Seventh at the grounds of the Naval Academy, 
and then convey to the same place the Massa- 
chusetts Eighth. 

Desirous not to seem wanting in courtesy to 
a sovereign state, General Butler now sent to 
Governor Hicks, a formal written request for 
permission to land. The answer being delayed 
and his men almost fainting for water, he then 
dispatched a respectful note announcing his in- 
tention to land forthwith. It was to these notes 
that Governor Hicks sent the reply, already 
quoted, protesting against the landing, and 
urging that no halt be made at Annapolis. 

In the course of the afternoon, both regiments 
were safely landed at the academy grounds, and 
and the Seventh hastened to share all they had 
of provender and drink with their new friends, i 
The men of the two regiments fraternized imme- i 
diaiely and completely ; nothing occurred, during 
the laborious days and nights that followed, to i 
disturb, for an instant, the perfect harmony that 
reigned between them. Tlie only contest was, 
which should do most to help, and cheer, and : 
relieve the other. 

I regret to be obliged to state that this pleas- 
ant state of affairs did not extend at all times, to 
the powers controlling the two regiments. An 
obstacle, little expected, now arose in General 
Butler's path. 



I From the moment when the Seventh had en- 
tered the grounds of the nav;^ school, systematic 
attempts appear to have been made to alarm 
Colonel Lofferts for the safety of his command. 
Messengers came in with reports that the acad- 
emy was surrounded with rebel troops ; aud 
even the loyal middies could testify, that during 
that very day, a force of Maryland militia had 
been drilling in the town itself. True, this force 
consisted of only one company of infantry and 
one of cavalry; but probably the exact truth 
was not known to Colonel Leffert's informants. 
Certain it is, that he was made to believe that 
formidable bodies of armed men only waited the 
issue of the regiments from the gates of the wall- 
ed inclosure in which they were, to give them 
battle, if, indeed, the inclosure itself was safe 
from attack. Accordingly he posted strong 
guards at the gates, and ordered that no soldier 
should be allowed to pass out. Nor were his 
apprehensions allayed when a Tribune reporter, 
who, accompanied by two friends, had strolled 
all over the town unmolested, brought back word 
that no enemj^ was in sight, and that the store- 
keepers of Annapolis were perfectly civil and 
willing to sell their goods to Union soldiers. 
Colonel Lefferts was assured that the hostile 
troops were purposely keeping out of sight, t© 
fall upon the regiment where it could light only 
at a fatal disadvantage. 

Consequently, he determined not to march 
with General Butler. He placed his refusal in 
writing, in the following words : — 

" Annapolis Ac.idrmt, 
" Monday Night, Api-U 22d, 1861. 
" General B. F. Butler, Commanding Massa- 
chusetts Volunteers, 

"Sir: — Upon consultation with my officers, I 
do not deem it proper, under the circumstances, 
to co-operate in the proposed march by railroad, 
laying track as we go along — particularly in 
view of a large force hourly expected, and with 
so little ammunition as we possess. I must be 
governed by my officers in a matter of so much 
importance. I have directed this to be handed 
to you upon your return from the transport ship. 
" I am, sir, yours respectfully, 

Marshall Lefferts.'' 

It was handed to the general on his .return 
from the transport ship. He sought an interview 
with Colonel Lefferts, and endeavoured to change 
his resolve. Vain were arguments ; vain re- 
monstrance ; vain the biting taunt. Colonel 
Leflerts still refused to go. General Butler then 
said he would go alone, he and his regiment, 
and proceeded forthwith to prepare for their 
departure. He instantly ordered two companies 
of the Massachusetts Eighth to march out of 
the walled grounds of the academy, and seize 
the railroad depot and storehouse. With the 
two com]iiuiies, he marched himself to the depot, 
and took possession of it without oppositioii. 
At the storehouse, one man opposed ihem, the 
keeper in charge. 

'•What is inside this building?" asked the 
general. 

"Nothing," replied the man. 

" Give me the key." 

"I hav'nt got it." 

"Where is it?" 

" I don't know." 

" Boys, can you force those gates * ' 



/VXNAPOLIS. 



23 



The bo^'s expressed an abundant willinguess 
to tiy. 

" Try tboD." 

They tried. The gates yielded and flew open. 
A small, rusty, damaged locomotive was found 
to be the "nothing,' which the building held. 

'• Does any one here know anything about 
this machine ?" 

Charles Hoinans, a private of company E, 
eyed the engine for a moment, and said : 

'■ Our shop made that engine, general. I guess 
I can put her in order and run her." 
" Go to work, and do it." 
Charles Homans picked out a man or two to 
help, and began, at once, to obey the order. 

Leaving a strong guard at tlie depot, the gen- 
era! viewed the track, and ascertained that the 
rails had, indeed, been torn up, and thrown 
aside, or carelessly hidden. Returning to the 
regiment, he ordered a muster of men accus- 
tomed to track-laying ; who, with the dawn of 
the next day, should begin to repair the road. 

At sunset that evening, the Seventh regiment, 
to the delight of a concourse of midshipmen and 
other spectators, performed a brilliant evening 
parade, to the music of a full band. 

Two members of this regiment (many more 
than two, but two especially), preferred the work 
that (i-eneral Butler was doing, and implored 
him to give tliem an humble share in it. One of 
them was Schuyler Hamilton, grandson of one 
of the men whose name lie bore, and great- 
gTandson of the other ; since distinguished in 
the war, and now General Hamilton. The other 
was Theodore Winthrop. General Butler found 
a place on his staff for Scliuyler Hamilton, who 
rendered services of the utmost value ; he was 
wise in counsel, valiant and prompt to execute. 
To Winthrop/he general said : 

" Serve out your time in your own regiment. 
Then come to me, wherever I am, and I will 
Und something for you to do." 

Happily, a change came over the minds of the 
officers of the Seventh the next morning. As 
late as three o'clock at night. Colonel Leflferts 
was still resolved to remain at Annapolis ; for, 
f t that hour, he sent of!" a messenger, in an open 
boat, for New York, bearing dispatches asking 
for reinforcements and supplies. He informed 
the messenger that he had certain information 
of the presence of four rebel regiments at the 
Junction, where the grand attack was to be 
made upon the passing troops. But when the 
day dawned, and the cheering sun rose, and it 
became clear that the Massachusetts men at the 
depot had not been massacred, and were cer- 
tainly going to attempt the march, then the 
officers of the Seventh came into General Butler's 
scheme, and agreed to join their brethren of 
Massachusetts. Prom that time forward, there 
was no hanging back. Both regiments worked 
vigorously in concert — Winthrop foremost among 
the foremost, all ardor, energy and merriment. 
Campaigning was an old story to him, who had 
roamed the world over in quest of adventure; 
and few men, of the thousands who were then 
rushing to the war, felt the greatness and the 
holiness of the cause as he felt it. Before 
leaving home, he had solemnly given his life to 
it, and, in so doing, tasted, for the first time, 
perhaps, a joy that satisfied him. 

It would be unfair to censure Colonel Leflferts 



lor his excessive prudence. He really believed 
the :<tories told him of the resistance lie was to 
meet on the way. Granting that those tales 
were true, his course was, perhaps, correct. The 
general had one great advantage over him ic 
liie nature of his professional trainaig. General 
Butler is one of the most vigorous and skillful 
cross-questioners in New England. In other 
words, he had spent twenty years of his life in 
detecting the true from the plausible ; in dragging 
up half-drowned Truth, by her dripjjing locks, 
from the bottom of her well. Such practice 
gives a man at last a kind of intuitive power of 
detecting falsehood ; he acquires a habit of 
balancing probabilities ; he scents a lie from afar. 
Doubtless, he believed their marcli might be 
opposed at some favorable point ; but, probably, 
he had too a tolerable certainty that slow, indo- 
lent, divided Maryland, could not, or would not, 
on such short notice, assemble a force on the line 
of railway, capable of stopping a Massachusetts 
regiment l)ound to Washington on a legitimate 
errand. He had had, at Havre de Grace, a 
striking instance of the diU'erence between truth 
and rumor, and his whole life had been full of 
such experiences. Colonel Leflerts, as a New 
York merchant, had passed his life among people 
who generally speak the truth, and keep their 
word. He was unprepared to believe that a 
dozen people could come to him, all telling sub- 
stantially the same story, many of tliem believing 
what they told, and yet all uttering falsehoods. 

Tuesday was a busy day of preparation for 
the march. Rails were hunted up and laid. 
Parties were pushed out in many directions but 
found no armea enemies. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hinks, with two companies of the Massachusetts 
Eighth, advanced along the railroad three miles 
and a half, without meeting the slightest appear- 
ance of opposition. Soldiers strolled about the 
town, and discovered that the grimmest seces- 
sionist was not unwilling to exchange such com- 
modities as he had for coin of the United States. 
Negroes gave furtive signs of good will, and 
produced baskets of cakes for sale. Madame 
Rumor was extremely diligent; there were 
bodies of cavalry here, and batteries of artillery 
there, and gangs of " Plug Uglies" coming from 
terrible Baltimore. The soldiers worked away, 
unmolested by auyt/iing more formidable than 
vague threats of coming vengeance. 

A startling rumor prevailed in the morning 
that the negroes in the vicinity of Annapolis 
were about to rise against their masters, and do 
something in the St. Domingo style — as per 
general expectation. The commanding general 
thought it proper to address to Governor Hicks 
the letter whicii became rather famous in those 
days : 

" I have understood within the last hour that 
some apprehension is entertained of an insurrec- 
tion of the negro population of this neighbor- 
hood. I am anxious to convince all classes of 
persons that the forces under my command are 
not here in any way to interfere, or countenance 
an interference, with the laws of the state. I, 
therefore, am ready to co-operate with your ex- 
cellency in suppressing most promptly and effi- 
ciently any insurrection against the laws of tho 
state of Maryland. I beg, therefore, that you 
announce publicly, that any portion of the forces 
under my command is at your excellency's dia 



24 



ANNAPOLIS. 



posal, to act immediately for the preser\'atiou of 
tiie peace of this community." 

The governor gave immediate publicily to this 
letter, and it is said to have had a remarkable 
effect in quieting the apprehensions of the people. 
Many who had fled from their homes returned 
to them, and gave aid and comfort to the troops. 

Early the ue.xt morning, the troops were in 
motion. It was a bright, warm spring day, the 
sun gleaming along the line of bayonets, the 
groves vocal with birds, the air fragrant with 
blcssoms. The engine driven by Charles Homans, 
— a soldier with fixed bayonet on eacii side of 
iiim, — came and went panting through the line 
of marching troops. As the sun cli-nibed toward 
the zenith, the morning breeze died away, and 
the air in the deeper cuttings became suffocating- 
ly warm. The working parties, more used to 
such a temperature, plied the sledge and the crow- 
bar unflaggiugly, but the daintier New Yorkers 
reeled under their heavy knapsacks, and were 
glad, at length, to leave them to the charge of 
Homans. With all their toil, the regiments 
cculd only advance at the rate of a mile an honr, 
for the further thej^ went, the more complete was 
the destruction of the road. Bridges had to be 
'epaired, as well as rails replaced. A shower in 
the afternoon gave all parties a welcome drench- 
ing, and left the atmosphere cool and bracing; 
but when night closed in, and the moou rose, 
they were still many miles from the Junction. 

In the afternoon of the day fbllowing, the 
Seventh marched by the White House, and 
saluted the President of the United States. Not 
an armed foe had been seen by them on the 
way. 

It had been General Butler's intention to ac- 
company the troops to Washington ; but before 
they had started the steamer Baltic arrived, 
loaded with troops from New York, giving abun- 
dant employment to the general and his extem- 
porized staff. Before they had been disposed ofj 
other vessels arrived, and, on the day fohowing, 
came an order from General Scott, directing 
General Butler to remain at Annapolis, hold the 
town and the road, and superintend the passage 
of the troops. Before the week ended, the " de- 
partment at Annapolis," embracing the country 
lying twenty miles on each side of the railroad, 
was created, and Brigadier-General Butler placed 
in command ; with ample powers, extending 
even to the suspension of habeas corpus, and the 
bombardment of Annapolis, if such extreme 
measures should bo necessary for the mainte- 
nance of the supremacy of tlie United States. 

During the next ten days. General Butler's 
unequaled talent for the dispatch of business, 
and his unequaled powers of endurance, were 
taxed to the uttermost Troops arrived, thou- 
sands in a day. The harbor was filled witli 
transports. Every traveler from North or South 
was personally examined, and his passport in- 
dorsed by the general in command. Spies were 
arrested. The legislature of Maryland was closely 
watched, and no secret was made of Geuerid 
Butler's intention to arrest the entire majority if 
an ordinance of secession was passed. It was 
not known to that body, I presume, that one of 
their officers had consigned to General Butler's 
custody the Great Seal of the Commonwealth, 
without which no act of theirs could acquire the 
validity of law. Such was the tact, however. 



In the total inexperience of commanding orJlccrs, 
every detail of the disembarkation, of the en- 
campments, of the supply, and of the march, re- 
quired the supervision of the general. From 
daylight until midnight he labored, keeping chaos 
at bay. One night as the clock was striking 
twelve, when the general, after herculean toils, 
had cleared his office of tlie last bewildered ap- 
plicant for advice or orders, and he was about lo 
trudge wearily to bed, an anxious-looking corre- 
spondent of a newspaper came in. 
I " General," said he, "where am I to sleep to- 
night ?" 

This was, really, t^vo mucii. 

'"Sir," said the tired commander of the Depart- 
ment of Annapolis, ■' I have done to-day about 
everytliing that a man ever did in this world. 
But I am not going to turn chambermaid, by 
Jove!" 

And, so saying, he escaped from the room. 

We need not linger at Annapolis. General 
Butler's services there were duly appreciated by 
the president, tlie lieutenant-general, Governor 
Andrew, and the country. One act alone o« 
his elicited any sign of disapproval : it was his 
ofi'er of the troops to aid in suppressing any 
imaginary insurrection of the slaves. General 
Butler, however, ably justified his course in a 
letter to the Governor of Massachusetts. 

We all remember how universal the expec- 
tation was, at the beginning of the war, that 
the negroes would everywhere embrace the op- 
portunity to rise upon their masters, and com- 
mit frightful outrages. That expectation grew 
out of our general ignorance of the character 
and feelings of the southern negro ; and none of 
us vvere so ignorant upon these points as hunkci 
democrats. If they had some acquaintance with 
slaveholders, they knew nothing about slavery, 
because they would know nothing. It is a pro- 
pensity of the human mind, to put away from 
itself unwelcome truths. American democrats, 
I repeat, know nothing of American slavery. 
It was pleasant and convenient for them to 
think, that Air. Wendell Phillips, Mr. Garrison, 
Mrs. Stovve, and Mr. Sumner, were persons of a 
fiiuatical cast of character, whose calm and very 
moderate exhibitions of slavery were totally 
beneath consideration — distorted, exaggerated, 
incredible. It was with the most sincere 
asloiilshment, that General Butler and his 
hunker staff discovered, when they stood face 
to tiice witli slavery, and were obliged to ad- 
minister the law of it, and tried to do justice to 
the black man as well as to the white, that the 
woret delineations of slavery ever presented to 
the public fell far short of the unimaginable 
truth.* They were ready to confess their ig- 
norance of that of which they had been hearing 
and reading all their lives, and that this 'patri- 
arclial institution,' for which some of them had 
pleaded or apologized, was simply the most hell- 
ish thintj that ever was in this world. 



* " On readiug Mrs. Stowe'B book, ' Uncle Tom's 
Cabin,' I thought it to be an overdniwn, highlv 
wronght picture of southern life ; but I have seeu with 
my own eyes, and heard with uiy own ears, many 
things wliich go beyo.id her book, as much as her book 
does beyond an ordinary scliool-girl's novel." — Speech 
of General BatUr at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New 
York, Oif his return from Jfew Orleans, JaniMry S, 
186a 



BALTIxMORE. 



25' 



Nevertheless, there has never been the slight- 
est danger of an insurrection of the slaves. The 
real victim of slavery is the v/hite man, not the 
black. Whatever little good there is in the sys- 
tem, the black man has had ; while most of the 
evil has fallen to the white man's share. Under 
slavery, tlie black man has deeply suffered and 
slowly improved ; the white man has ignobly 
enjoyed and rapidly degenerated. Three or 
lour, or tive generations of servitude have ex- 
tirpated whatever of warlike and rebellious en- 
ergy tlie negro may have once possessed; and, 
of late years, the Christian religion, in a rude 
and tropical form — much feeling and little 
knowledge — has exerted a still more subduing 
influence upon them. Some more or less cor- 
rect version of the story of the Cross has become 
familiar to them all, as well as the sentiments of 
tiie Sermon on the Mount. To no people, of all 
the suffering sons of men, has that wondrous 
tale come home with such power as to these 
sad and docile children of Africa. Are not 
they, too, men of sorrow ? Are not they, too, 
acquainted with grief? Have not they, too, to 
sufier and be silent? — revenge impossible, for- 
giveness divinely commanded ? 

Insurrection ? If a Springfield musket and a 
Sheffield bowie-knife were this day placed in 
every negro hut in the South, and every master 
gone to the war, the negroes might use those 
weapons, but it would be to defend, not to mo- 
lest, their masters' wives and children. There 
is many a negro in the southern states who 
does actually stand in the same kir>A of moral 
relation to his master as that which Jesus Christ 
bore to the Jews, when he said, "Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do." And not 
mm-al relation only ; for the negro often has a 
clear mental perception of the fact stated. He 
sometimes stands above his master, at a higiit 
which the master can neither see nor believe in. 



CHAPTER IV. 



BALTIMORE. 



Baltimore was the ruling topic in those days. 
Baltimore, still severed from all its railroad con- 
nections with the North, and still under control 
of the secession minority. One of the last re- 
porters that made his way through the city, two 
or three days after the attack of the mob upon 
the Sixth Massachusetts, gave a striking narra- 
tive of his adventures, which kept alive the im- 
pression that Baltimore had gone over, as one 
man, to the side of the rebels, and meant to 
resist to the death the passage of Union troops. 

"In the streets," he wrote, "of the lower part 
of the cit}-^, there were immense crowds, warm 
discussions, and the high pitch of excitement 
which discussion engenders. The mob — for 
Baltimore street was one vast mob — was surg- 
ing to and fro, uncertain in what way to move, 
and apparently without any special purpose. 
Many had small secession cards pinned on their 
ooat collars, and noi a few were armed with 
guns, pistols and knives, of which they made 
the most display. 

" I found the greatest crowd surging around 
the telegraph office, waiting anxiously, of cour.se, 



for news. The most inquiry was as to tho 
whereabouts of the New York troops — tlie most 
frequent topic, the probably results of an at- 
tempt on the part of the Seventli regiment to 
force a passage through Baltimore. All agreed 
that the force could never go through — all 
agreed that it would make the attempt if or- 
dered to do so, and none seemed to entertain a 
doubt that it would leave a winrow of the dead 
bodies of those who assailed it in the streets 
through which it might attempt to pass. 

" I found the police force entirely in sympa- 
thy with the secessionists and indisposed to 
act against the mob. Marshal Kane and the 
commissioners do not make any concealment of 
their proclivities for the Southern Confederacy. 
Mayor Brown, upon \\hom I called, seemed to 
be disposed to do his duty — provided he knew 
what it was, and could do it safely. He was in 
a high state of excitement when I mentioned 
my name and purpose. He manifested a dis- 
position to be civil, and to give me information 
but was evidently afraid that I was a Northern 
aggressor, with whom it was indiscreet for him 
to he in too close communication. Seeing his 
condition, I left him and went out in the crowd 
to gather public opiiiion again." 

" All through the next day, the accessions 
from the country were coming in. Sometimes a 
squad of infantry, sometimes a troop of liorse, 
and once a small park of artillery. It was 
nothing extraordinary to see a ' solitary horse- 
man' riding in from the counties, with shot-gun,, 
powder-horn and flask. Some came with prov- 
ender lashed to the saddle, prepared to picket 
out for the night. Boys came with their fathers, 
accoutered apparently with the war sword and 
holster-pistols that had done service a century 
ago. There were strange contrasts between the 
stern, solemn bearing of the father, and the 
buoj'ant, excited, enthusiastic expressions of the 
boy's face. I hnd frequent talks with these- 
people, and could not but be impressed with 
their' devotion and patriotism ; for, mistaken as 
they were, they- were none the less actuated by 
the most unselfish spirit of loyalty. Th(!y hardly 
knew, any of them, for what they had so sud- 
denly come to Baltiraora. They had a vague 
idea only, that Maryland had been invaded, and 
that it was the solemn duty of her sons to pro- 
tect their soil from the encroachments of an in- 
vading force." 

Upon reading such letters as this, a great crj 
arose in the North for the re-opening of the path 
to "Washington through Baltimore, even if it 
should involve the destruction of the rebellious 
city. The proceedings of General Butler at 
Annapolis, and the departure from Baltimore of 
the leading spirits of tlie mob to join the rebel 
army in Virginia, quieted the city, and gave the 
Union men some chance to make their influence 
felt. But this change was not immediately un- 
derstood at Washington, and General Scott was 
meditating a great strategic scheme for the con- 
quest of the city. 

His plan, as officially communicated on tho 
29th of April, to Genera! Butler, General Pat- 
terson, and others who were to co-operate, was 
as follows: "i suppose," wrote the iieutenant- 
general, " that a column from this pk-ce (Wash- 
ington) of three thousand men, a«other from 
York of three thousand m.en, a tliird from Perry- 



26 



BALTIMORE. 



vFile, or Elkton, by land or water, or both, of 
three thousand men, and a fourth from Anna- 
polis, by water, of three thousand men, might 
suffice. But it may be, and many persons think 
it probahk, that Baltimore, before we can get 
ready, will re-open the communication through 
that city, and bej'ond, each way, for troops, army 
.supplies, and travelers, voluntarily. "When can 
we be ready for the movement on Baltimore on 
this side? Colonel Mansfield has satisfied me 
that we want, at least, ten thousand additional 
troops here to give security to the capital ; an d, 
as yet, we ha,ve less than ten thousand, including 
some very indifferent militia from the district. 
With that addition, we will be able, I think, to 
make the detachment for Baltimore." 

A day or two after the receipt of this letter, 
<3eneral Butler went to "Washington to confer 
with tlie general-in-chief. He conversed with 
him tiiUy upon the state of affairs. One sug- 
gestion offered on this occasion, by General But- 
ler, has peculiar interest in view of subsequent 
events. He was of opinion, with Shakspeare, 
that the place to light the wolf is not at j-our 
own front door, but nearer its own den. Man- 
assas Junction he suggested, not Arlington 
Heights, was the place where "Washington should 
nrst be defended; and he offered to march 
thither with two thousand men, destroy the rail- 
road connections with the South, and fortify the 
position. As there were then no rebel troops at 
the Junction, this could have been done without 
loss or delay. General Scott negatived the pro- 
posal. The Committee on the Conduct of the 
"War have since characterized the omission to 
seize Manassas Junction at this time, as " the | 
great error of that campaign." ''The position 
at Manassas," add the Committee, "controlled 
the railroad communication in all that section of 
country. The forces which were opposed to us 
at the battle of Bull Run were mostly collected 
and brotiglit to Manassas during the months of 
June and July. The three months' men could 
have made the place easily defensible against 
any force the enemy could have brought against 
it; and it is not at all probable that the rebel 
forces would have advanced beyond the line of 
the Rappahannock had Manassas been occupied 
by our troops." 

General Butler strongly urged his scheme of 
seizing Manassas, both in conversation and in 
writing, to various influential persons. General 
Scott's veto was decisive. 

The reduction of Baltimore was, however, the 
chief topic of discussion between General Butler 
and the commander-in-chief. General Scott was 
still of opinion that some time must elapse be- 
fore troops could be spared for the attempt; but 
he consented to General Butler's taking a regi- 
ment or two, and holding the Relay House, a 
station nine miles from Baltimore. Before leaving 
on this expedition, he asked General Scott what 
were the powers of a general commanding a 
department. The repl}^ was, that, except as 
limited by specific orders and by military law, 
his powers were absolute ; he could do whatever 
ho thought best. Upon receiving this information. 
General Butler privately consulted an officer of 
engineers, who ascertained for him, by reference 
to authoritative maps, that the city of Baltimore 
was within the Department of Annapolis, as de- 
Sned in the order creating it. 



Saturday afternoon. May 4lh, the Eighth New 
York, the Sixth Mass^ichusetts, and Cook's bat- 
tery of artillery received the welcome order to 
be ready to march by two o'clock the next 
morning. General Butler had given a solemn 
promise to the Si.xtli, his own home regiment, 
which he had joined before his beard was grown, 
that they should, one day, if his advice was 
taken, march again through Baltimore. His 
selection of the regiment on this occasion was 
the beginning of the fuliOlment of that promise. 
At daylight on Sunday morning, a train of thirty 
cars glided from the depot ac Washington ; fron^ 
which, two hours later, the regiments issued at 
the Relay House, where they seized the depot and 
swarmed over the adjoining hills, reconnoitering. 

No enemy was discovered ; there was no for- 
midable enemy at that time any where near 
Washington and there liad not been ; but every 
man they met had something terrible to tell 
them of rebel dragoons hovering near. Cannons 
were planted on the heights. Camps were 
formed, and scouting parties sent out. Officers 
were detailed to go through all passing trains 
and seize articles contraband of war — such aa 
weapons, powder, and intrenching tools. The 
general wrote to "^''ashington to know if he might 
not arrest certain prominent traitors who lived 
near — members of the Carroll familj and others. 
He concluded his first dispatch with these words : 
" I find the people here exceedingly friendly, and 
I have no doubt that with my present force I 
could march through Baltimore. I am the more 
convinced of this because I learn that, for several 
days, many of the armed secessionists have left 
for Harper's Ferry, or have goue forth plundering 
the country. I trust my acts will meet your ap- 
probation, whatever j'ou may think of my sug- 
gestions." 

General Butler remained a week at the Relay 
House. Large numbers of friendly people from 
Baltimore drove out to his camp, and, with them, 
some who were not friendly. He became per- 
fectlj' well informed of the condition of the city. 
General Scott wrote approvingly of his acts, and 
authorized him to use his discretion in arresting 
the disaffected, and in seizing contraband anicles. 
He also inlbrmed hiin that he need not remain 
at the Relay House " longer than he deepied his 
presence there of importance." He did not. 

On the 13tli of May, General Butler arrived at 
the conclusion that his presence at the Relay 
House was no longer necessary. Early in the 
morning, he telegraphed to General Scolt, among 
other things, that Baltimore was in the depart- 
ment of Annapolis. An answer came back from 
Colonel Schuyler Hamilton, then on the staff of 
the lieutenant-general, which certainly could not 
be construed as forbidding the movement ooVl- 
templated. 

" General Scott desires me to invite your at- 
tention to certain guilty parties in Baltimore, 
namely, those connected with the guns and mil- 
itary cloths seized by your troops (at the Relay 
House), as well as the baker who furnished sup- 
plies of bread for Harper's Ferry. It is probable 
that you will find them, on inquiry, proper sub- 
jects for seizure and examination. He acknow- 
ledges your telegram o.' this morning, and is happy 
to find that Baltimore is within 3-our department." 

Later in the day, arrived a second dispatch 
from Colonel Hamilton : — 



BALTIMORE. 



27 



" General Scott desires me to inform you that 
he has recoi^od information, believed to be re- 
L'able, that several tons of gunpowder, designed 
or those unlawfully combined against the govern- 
ment, are stored in a church in Baltimore, in the 
neighbourhood of Calhoun street, between Balti- 
more and Fayette streets. He invites your at- 
tention to the subject." 

It is said that (xeneral Scott, who required 
much sleep, and who was oppressed with a mul- 
tiplicity of business, did not always scrutinize 
very closely the dispatches sent in his name, 
when the}^ were supposed to relate to matters of 
mere detail. It may bo that the meaning and 
tendency of these dispatches escaped his atten- 
tion. Colonel Hamilton, who had enjoyed the 
opportunity at Annapolis of becoming acquain- 
ted with the quality of the Massachusetts briga- 
dier, was, certainly, not iuchned to place any 
obstacles in his way. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon of May 13th, 
the rebel spies at the Relay House felt sure, 
that at length, they were about to have some- 
thing important to communicate to their employ- 
ers at Baltimore. Two trains of cars stood upon 
the track, both headed toward Harper's Ferry, 
both loaded with troops. One was a short train, 
with a force of fifty men on board. The other 
was of imniense length. It contained the whole 
of the Sixth Massachusetts, some companies of 
the New York Eighth, and two pieces of artillery, 
in all nine hundred men. The general's white 
horse, horses for the statf and artillery were on 
the train. When ever3rthiug was in readiness, 
word was brought to the general that two fast 
Baltimore trotters were harnessed in a stable 
near by, which were to convey the tidings of the 
movement to Baltimore the moment the trains 
bad started. 

" Let them go," said the general. 
The two trains moved slowly toward Harper's 
Ferry. The fast nags, at the same moment, 
were put on the road to Baltimore. General 
Butler secretly resolved to give them plenty of 
time to reach the city. Except himself and a 
few members of his staff, every man in the train 
was ignorant of his real design. 

Two miles from tiie Relay House, both trains 
halted a while. Then the smaller train kept on 
its way. It was bound to Fredeaick, where the 
troops were ordered to seize the millionaire, Ross 
Winans, and the machine then figuring ominous- 
ly in the newspapers, or Winan's steam gun ; a 
useless rattle-trap, as it proved. Winans was a 
thorough-going traitor, and one who, from his 
prodigious wealth (fifteen millions, it was 
thought), could give his fellow traitors abundant 
aid and very solid comfort. Already, he had 
manufactured five thousand pikes for the use of 
the Baltimore mob against the forces summoned 
by hia country to defend its cipital. An arch- 
traitor, and an old ; gray hairs did what tliey 
could to "make his ibUy venerable." If ever 
treason was committed, he had committed it ; for 
he had not even the empty excuse of the passage 
of an ordinance of secession by the legislature of 
his state. General Butler will interpret his or- 
ders with exact literahiess, if this hoary-headed 
traitor falls into his hands, while he remains in 
command of the department of AnnapoHs, includ- 
ing the city of Baltimore. 

A-bout six o'clock in the evening, the long 



train, with its nine hundred men, the artillery 
and the horses, backed slowly past the Relay 
House again, and continued backing until it 
reached the depot at Baltimore. 

A thunder storm of singular character, extra- 
ordinary both for its violence and its extent, 
hung over the city, black as midnight. It was 
nearly dark when the train arrived. No rain 
had yet fallen ; but the whole city was soon en- 
veloped in rushing clouds of dust. Flashes Oi 
lightning, vivid, incessant — peals of thunder, 
loud and continuous, gave warning of the com- 
ing deluge. The depot was nearly deserted, 
and scarcely any one was in the streets. By 
the time the troops were formed, it had become 
dark, except when the flashes of lightning illu- 
mined the scene, as if with a thousand Drum- 
mond lamps. This continuous change, from a 
blinding glare of light to darkness the most 
complete, was so bewildering, that if the gen- 
eral had not had a guide familiar with the city, 
he could scarcely have advanced from the depot. 
This guide was Mr. Robert Hare of Philadelphia, 
son of the celebrated chemist, who, after ren- 
dering valuable services to the general eiae- 
where, had joined him at the Relay House, and 
now volunteered to pilot him to Federal Hill. 

The word was given, and the troops silently 
emerged from the depot ; the general, Mr. Hare, 
and the staff in the advance. The orders were, 
for no man to speak a needless word ; no drums 
to beat ; and if a shot was tired from a house, 
halt, arrest every inmate, and destroy the house, 
leaving not one brick upon another. 

When the line had cleared the depot, the 
storm burst. Such torrents of rainl Such a 
ceaseless blaze of lightning 1 Such crashes and 
volleys of thunder ! At one moment the long 
line of bayonets, the ranks of firm white faces, 
the burnished cannon, the horses and their 
riders, the signs upon the houses, and every 
minutest object, would flash out of the gloom 
with a distinctness inconceivable. The next, a 
pall of blackest darkness would drop upon the 
scene. Not a countenance appeared in any 
window ; for, so incessant was the thunder 
that the tramp of horses, the tread of men, the 
rumble of the cannon, were not heard ; or if 
heard lor a moment, not distinguished from the 
multitudinous noises of the storm. As the gen- 
eral and his staff gained the summit of Federal 
Hill, which rises abruptly from the midst of the 
town, and turned to look back upon the troops 
winding up the steep ascent, a flash of un- 
equaled brilliancy gave such startling splendor 
to the scene, that an exclamation of wonder 
and delight broke from every lip. The troops 
were formed upon the summit, the cannon were 
planted, and Baltimore was their own. 

Except a shanty or two, used in peaceful 
times as a lager-beer garden, there was no shel- 
ter on the hill. The men had to stand still in 
the pouring rain, with what patience they could. 
When the storm abated, scouts were sent out, 
who ferreted out a wood-yard, from which 
thirty cords of wood were brought ; and soon 
the top of the hill presented a cheerful scene 
and picturesque ; arras stacked and groups of 
steaming soldiers standing around fifty blazing 
fires, each man revolving irregularly on hia axij, 
trying to get himself and his blanket dry. 

General Butler established his head-quarters 



28 



BALTIMORE. 



m the German shiantj-. An officer, who had 
oecD scouting:, came to him there in consider- 
able excitement, and said: 

" I am informed, general, that this hill is 
mined, and that we are all to bo blown up." 

"Get a lantern,'' replied the general, "and 
70U and I will walk round the base of the hill, 
and see." 

They found, indeed, deep cavities in the side 
of the hill, but tliese proved to be places whence 
sand had been dug for building. After a tho- 
rough examination, the general said : 

"I don't think we shall be blown up; but if 
we are, there is one comfort, it will dry us all." 

Returning to his shanty, General Butler, still 
as wet as water could make him, set about pre- 
paring his proclamation. 

At half-past eight in the morning, he received 
a note from the mayor, which showed how com- 
pletely his movaraents had been concealed by 
the storm. The note had been written during 
the previous evening. 

"I have just been informed," wrote the 
mayor. " that you have arrived at the Camden 
Station with a large body of troops under your 
command. As the sudden arrival of a force 
will create much surprise in the community, I 
beg to be informed whether you propose that it 
shall remain at the Camden Station, so that the 
police may be notified, and proper precautions 
may be taken to prevent any disturbance of the 
peace." 

The mayor had not long to wait for informa- 
tion. An extra Clipper of the morning, con- 
taining General Butler's proclamation, advised 
all Baltimore of his intentions, which simply 
were to maintain intact tlie constitutional au- 
thority of the government of the United States 
against traitors, armed and unarmed. 

Not the slightest disturbance of the peace 
occurred. The suggestions and requests of the 
general were observed. There was plenty of 
private growling, and some small, furtive exhi- 
bitions of disgust, but nothing that could 
be called opposition. Contraband gunpowder, 
pikes, arms and provisions were seized. The 
Union flag was hoisted upon buildings belong- 
ing to the United States, and the flag of treason 
nowhere appeared. The camp equipage of the 
troops was brought in, and camps were formed 
upon the hill. Jilarly in the afternoon, General 
Butler and his stall" mounted their horses, and 
rode leisurely through the streets to the Gilmore 
house, where they dismounted, and strolled into 
the dining room and dined; after which they 
remounted, and enjoyed a longer ride in the 
streets, meeting no molestation, exciting much 
muttered remark. General Butler does not 
mount a horse quite in the style of a London 
guardsman. In mounting before the Gilmore 
house, across a wide gutter, he had some little 
difficulty in bestriding his horse, which, a pass- 
ing traitor observing, gave rise to the report, 
promptly conveyed to Washington, that the 
general was drunk tliat Aay, in the streets of 
Baltimore. Such a misfortune is it to have 
short legs, with a g\itter and a horse to get 
over. From that time, the soldiers, in twos 
and threes, walked freely about the city, ex- 
hilarated, now and then, by a little half-sup- 
pressed vituperation from men, and a ludicrous 
display oi petulance ou the part of lovely 



woman. Often they were stopped in the streets 
by Union men, who shook them v»'armly by the 
hand and thanked them for coming to their de- 
liverance. 

There is a limit to the endurance of man. ■ 
General Butler performed tliat, day, one of his 
day's work. At night, exhausted to an ex- 
treme, for lie had not lain down in forty hours, 
and racked wit'i head.achc, he ventured to go to 
bed ; leaving orders, howeve!', that he was to be 
instantly notified if aiiytliiiig extraordinary oc- 
curred. It perversely happened that many ex- 
traordinary things did occur that night. Soma 
important seizures were made; some valuable 
information was brought in ; many plausiole 
rumors gained a hearing; and, consequently, 
the general was disturbed about every half hour 
during the night. He rose in the morning un- 
refreshed, feverish, almost sick. His feelings 
may be imagined, when, at half-past eight, he 
received the following dispatch from the lieu- 
tenant-general, dated May 14th : 

"Sir, — Your hazardous occupation of Balti- 
more was made without my knowledge, and. of 
course, without my approbation. It is a God- 
send, that it was without conflict of arms. It 
is, also, reported, that you have sent a detiveh- 
ment to Frederick ; but this is impossible. Not 
a word have I received from you as to either 
movement. Let me hear from you." 

This epistle was not precisely what General 
Butler thought was due to an officer who, with 
nine hundred men, had done what General Scott 
was preparing to do with twelve thousand. It 
was a damper. It looked like a rebuke for 
domg his duty too well. The sick general took 
it much to heart ; not for his own sake merely ; 
he could not but augur ill of the conduct of the 
war if a neat and triumphant httle audacity, like 
his march into Baltimore, was to be rewarded 
with an immediate snub from head-quarters. 
Being only a militia brigadier, he did not clearly 
see how a war was to be carried on without 
incurring some slight risk, now and then, of a 
conflict of arms. 

But there was little time for meditation. 
There were duties to be done. For one item, 
he had Ross Winans a prisoner in Fort Mc- 
Henry ; his pikes and steam-gun being also iu 
safe custody, with other evidences of his treason. 
He was preparing to try Mr. Winans by court- 
martial, and telegraphed to Mr. Cameron, asking 
him not to interfere, at least not to release him, 
until General Butler could go to Washington 
and explain the turpitude of hLs guilt. It was, 
and is, the gi?neral's opinion, that the summary 
execution ol' a traitor wo"th fifteen millions, 
would have been an fxhibition of moral 
strength en the part of the go»ernment, such 
as the times required. His guilt was beyond 
question. If there is, or can be, such a crime 
as treason against the United States, this man 
hud committed it, not in language only, but in 
overt acts, numerous and aggravated. Mr. 
Seward, I need scarcely say, took a different 
view of the matter. Winuns was released. 
Why his pikes and his steam-gun \\'ere not 
returned to him does not appear. A i*i\v 
months after, it was found necessary to place 
him again in confinement. 

Nothing would appease General Scoti short of 
the recall of General Butler from Baliimors, and 



BALTIMORE. 



29 



the withdrawal of the troops from Federal Hill. 
General Butler was recalled, and General Cad- 
wallader ruled in his stead. The troops were 
temporarily removed, and Greaeral Butler re- 
turned to Washington. 

That the president did not concur with the 
rebuke of General Scott, was shown by his 
immediately offering General Butler a commis- 
sion as major-general, and the command of 
Fortress Monroe. That the secretary of war did 
not concur with it, I infer from a passage of one 
of his letters from St. Petersburgh. " I always 
said," wrote Mr. Cameron, "that if you had 
been left at Baltimore, the rebellion would have 
been of short duration;" a remark, the full sig- 
nificance of which may, one day become apparent 
to the American people. I believe I may say 
witliout improperly using the papers before me, 
that more than one member of the cabinet held 
the opinion, that General Butler's recall from 
Baltimore was solely due to his frustration of the 
sublime strategic scheme of taking that city by 
the simultaneous advance of four columns of 
three thousand men each. 

The people made known their opinion of Gen- 
eral Butler's conduct in all the usual ways. On 
the evening of his arrival in Washington, he was 
serenaded, and abundantly cheered. His little 
speech on this occasion was a great hit. The 
remarkable feature of it was, that it expressed, 
without exaggeration, as without suppression, 
his habitual feehug respecting the war into which 
the nation was groping its way. He talked to 
the crowd just as he had often talked, and talks 
to a knot of private friends: 

" Fellow-Citizens : — Your cheers for the old 
commonwealth of Massachusetts are rightly 
bestowed. Foremost in the ranks of those who 
fought for the liberty of the country in the revo- 
lution were the men of Massachusetts. It is a 
historical fact, to which I take pride in now 
referring, that in the revolution, Massachusetts 
sent more men south of Mason and Dixon's line 
to fight for the cause of the country, than all 
the southern colonies put together; and in this 
second war, if war must come, to proclaim the 
Declaration of Independence anew, and as a 
necessary consequence, establish the Union and 
the constitution, Massachusetts will give, if ne- 
cessary, every man in her borders, ay, and 
woman I [Cheers,] I trust I may be excused 
for speaking thus of Massachusetts ; but I am 
confident there are many within the sound of my 
voice whose hearts beat with proud memories of 
the old commonwealth. There is this diflerence, 
I will say, between our southern brothers and 
ourselves, that while we love our state with the 
true love of a son, we love the Union and the 
country with an equal devotion. [Loud and 
prolonged applause.] We place no ' state rights' 
before, above, and beyond the Union. [Cheers.] 
To us our country is first, because it is our coun- 
try [three cheers], and our state is next and 
second, becau.se she is a part of our country and 
our state. [Renewed applause.] Our oath of 
allegiance to our country, and our oath of alle- 
giance to our state, are interwreathed harmoni- 
ously, and never come in conflict nor clash. He 
who does his duty to the Union, does his duty 
to the state; and he who does his duty to the 
sute does his duty to the Union — ' one insep- 



arable, now and for ever.' [Renewed applause.] 
As I look upon this demonstration of yours, I 
believe it to be prompted by a love of the com- 
mon cause, and our common country — a country 
so great and good, a government so kind, so be- 
neficent, that the hand from which we have 
only felt kindness, is now for the first time raised 
in chastisement. [Applause.] Many things in 
a man's life may ba worse than death. So, to a 
government there may be many things, such as 
dishonor and disintegration, worse than the 
shedding of blood. [Cheers.] Our fathers pur- 
chased our liberty and country for us at an 
immense cost of treasure and blood, and by the 
bright heavens above us, we will not part with 
them without first paying the original debt, and 
the interest to this date 1 [Loud cheers.] We 
have in our veins the same blood as they shed ; 
we have the same power of endurance, the same 
love of liberty and law. We will hold as a 
brother him who stands by the Union ; we will 
hold as an enemy him who would strike from 
its constellation a single star. [Applause.] But, 
I hear some one say, ' Shall we carry on this 
fratricidal war? Shall we shed our brothers' 
blood, and meet in arms our brothers in the 
South ?' I would say, 'As our fathers did not 
hesitate to strike the mother country in the de- 
fense of our rights, so we should not hesitate to 
meet the brother as they did the mother.' If 
this unholy, this fratricidal war, is forced upon 
us, I say, ' Woe, woe to them who have made the 
necessity. Our hands are clean, our hearts are 
pure ; but the Union must be preserved [intense 
cheering. When silence was restored, he con- 
tinued] at all hazard of money, and, if need be, 
of every life this side of tlie arctic regions. 
[Cheers.] If the 2.'), 000 northern soldiers who 
are here, are cut otf, in six weeks 50,000 will 
take their place ; and if they die by fever, pes- 
tilence, or the sword, a quarter of a million will 
take their place, till our army of the reserve will be 
women with their broom slicks, to drive every 
enemy into the gulf [Cheers and laughter.] 
I have neither fear nor doubt of the issue. I 
feel only horror and dismay for those who have 
made tlie war. God help them 1 we are here 
for our rights, for our country, for our flag. Our 
faces are set south, and there shall be no footstep 
backward. [Immense applause.] He is mis- 
taken who supposes we can be intimidated by 
threats or cajoled by compromise. The day of 
compromise is past. 

" The government must be sustained [cheers] ; 
and when it is sustained, we shall give everybody 
in the Union their rights under the constitution, 
as we always have, and everybody outside of 
the Union the steel of the Union, till they shall 
come under the Union. [Cheers, and cries of 
good, go on.'] It is impossible for me to go on 
speech making; but if you will go home to your 
beds, and the government will let me, I will go 
south fighting ibr the Union, and you will follow 
me." — iY. Y. Daily Times. 

A diflerent scene awaited him the next morn- 
ing in the office of the lieutenant-general, re- 
specting which it is best to say little. He bore 
the lecture for half an hour without replying. 
But General Butler's patience under unworthy 
treatment is capable of being exhaasted. li 
was exhausted on this occasion. Indeed, the 



30 



FORTRESS MONROE. 



spectacle of cumbrous inefficiency which the 
iiead-quarters of tiie armj'- then presented, and 
continued long to present, was such as to grieve 
and alarm every man acquainted with it, who 
had also an adequate knowledge of the formid- 
able task to which the country had addressed 
itself. I am not ashamed to relate, that Greneral 
Butler, on reaching his apartment, was so deeplj- 
moved by what had passed, and by the infer- 
ences ho could but draw by what had passed, 
that he burst into hysteric sobs, which he found 
himself for some minutes, unable to repress. 
And, what was worse, he had serious thoughts 
of declining the preferred promotion, and going- 
home to resume his practice at the bar. Not 
that his zeal had (lagged in the cause : but it 
seemed doubtful whether, in the circumstances, 
a man of enterprise and energy would be 
allowed to do anything of moment to promote 
the cause. 



CHAPTER V. 



FORTRESS MONROE. 



The president had no lecture to bestow upon 
General Butler; but, on the contrary, compli- 
ment and congratulation. He urged him to 
accept the command of Fortress Monroe, and use 
the same energy in retaking Norfolk as he had 
displayed at Annapolis and Baltimore. Atter a 
day's consideration, the general said he was will- 
ing enough to accept the proftered promotion 
and the command of the fortress, if he could have 
the means of being useful there. As a base for 
active operations. Fortress Monroe was good ; 
he only objected to it as a convenient tomb for a 
troublesome militia general. Could he have four 
Massachusetts regiments, two batteries of field 
artillery, and the other requisites for a successful 
advance ? Not that Massachusetts troops were 
better than others, only he knew them better, 
and they him. Yes, he could have them, and 
should, and whatever else he needed for effective 
action. An active, energetic campaign was pre- 
cisely the thing desired and expected of him, 
and nothing should be wanting on the part of 
the government to render such a campaign pos- 
sible. This being understood he joyfully accep- 
ted the commission and the command. General 
Butler's commission as major-general dates from 
May 16th, two days after his thunderous march 
mto Baltimore. He is now, therefore, in reality, 
the senior major-general in the service of the 
United States. On that day. General McClellan 
and General Banks were still in the pay of their 
respective railroad companies ; General Dix. was 
at home ; General Fremont was in Europe, at- 
tending to his private affairs. 

May 2 2d, at eight o'clock in the morning, the 
^uns of the fortress saluted General Butler as 
the commander of tlio post ; and as soon ae the 
ceremonies of his arrival were over, he proceeded 
to look about liim, to learn what it was that had 
fallen to his share. In the course of the day, he 
made great progress in the pursuit of knowledge. 

This huge fort was one of the hinges of the 
stable-door which was shut after the horse had 
been stolen, in the war of 1812. It had 
never been used for warlike purposes, and 



had been, usually, garrisoned by a company or 
two, or three, of regular troops, who paraded and 
drilled in its wide expanses with listless pimc- 
tuality, and fished in the surrounding waters, or 
strolled about the adjacent village. Colonel 
Dimmick was the commandant of the post when 
the war broke out ; a faii,hful, noble-minded offi- 
cer, who, with his one man to eight yards ot 
rampart, kept Virginia from clutching the prize. 
Two or three tliousand volunteers had since 
made their way to the fortress, and were en- 
camped on its grounds. 

General Butler soon discovered that of the 
many things necessary for the defense of the 
post, he had a sufficiency of one only, namely, 
men. There was not one horse belonging to the 
garrison; nor one cart nor wagon. Provision 
barrels had to be rolled from the landing to the 
fort, three-quarters of a mile. There was no well 
or spring within the walls of the fortress ; 'but 
cisterns only, filled with rain water, which had 
given out the summer before when there were 
but four hundred men at the post. Of ammu- 
nition, he had but five thousand rounds, less than 
a round and a half per man of the kind suited tu 
the greater number of the muskets brought by 
the volunteers. The fort was getting over- 
crowded with troops, and more were hourly ex- 
pected ; he would have nine more regiments in 
a few days. Room must be found for the new 
comers outside the walls. He found, too, that he 
had, in his vicinity, an active, numerous, and in- 
creasing enemy, who were busy fortifying points 
of land opposite or near the fort ; points essential 
for his purposes. The garrison was, in eflfect. 
penned up in the peninsula ; a rebel picket a 
mile distant ; a rebel flag waving from Hampton 
Bridge in sight of the fortre.ss ; rebel forces pre- 
paring to hem in the fortress on every side, as 
they had done Sumter; rumor, as usual, mag- 
ni^'ving their numbers tenfold. Colonel Dimmick 
had been able to seize and hold the actual prop- 
erty of the government ; no more. 

Water being the most immediate necessity. 
General Butler directed his attention, first of all. 
to securing a more trustworthy supply. Can 
the artesian well be speedily fiuisheil. wiiich was 
begun long ago and then suspended ? It could, 
thought Colonel de Russy, of the engineer^- who, 
at once, at the general's request, consulted a con- 
tractor on the subject. There was a spring a, 
mile from the fortress, which furnished 700 gallons 
a day. Can the water be conducted to the fort- 
ress by a temporary pipe? It can, reported the 
colonel of engineers ; and the general ordered 
it to be done. Meanwhile, water from Baltimore, 
at two cents a gallon. To-morrow, Colonel 
Phelps, with his Vermonters, shall cross to 
Hampton, reconnoiter the country,, and see il 
there is good camping ground in that direction : 
for the pine forest suggested by General Scott 
was reported by Colonel de Russy to be un- 
healthy as well as waterless. In a day or two. 
Commodore Stringham, urged thereto by General 
Butl»r, would have shelled out the rising battery 
at Sewall's Point, it he had not been suddenly 
ordered away to the blockade of Charleston har- 
bor. Already the general had an eye upon New- 
port News, eleven miles to the south, directly 
upon one of the roads he meant to take by and 
by, when the promised means of offensive warfkr« 
arrived. Word was brought that the enemy had 



FOETRESS MONROE. 



31 



an eye ujxin it, loo ; and General Butler deter- 
mined to be there before them. That rolling of 
barrels from the landing would never do ; on this 
first day, the general ordered surveys and esti- 
mates for a railroad between the wharf and the 
fortress. The men were eating hard biscuit : he 
directed the coustruction of a new bake-house, 
that they might have bread. 

The next day, as every one remembers, 
Colonel Phelps made his reconnoissance in 
Hampton and its vicinity — not without a show 
of opposition. Upon approaching the bridge 
over Hampton Creek, Colonel Phelps perceived 
that the rebels had set. fire to the bridge. Rush- 
ing forward at the double-quick, the men tore 
off the burning planks and quickly e.xitinguished 
the fire ; then marching into the village, com- 
pleted their reconnoissance, and performed some 
evolutions for the edification of the inhabitants. 
Colonel Phelps met there several of his old West 
Point comrades, whom he warned of the inevi- 
table failure of their bad cause, and advised them 
to abandon it in time. The general himself was 
soon on the ground, and took a ride of seven 
miles in the enemy's country that afternoon, still 
eager in the pursuit of knowledge. 

One noticeable thing was reported by the 
troops on their return. It was, that the negroes, 
to a man, were the trusting, enthusiastic friends 
of the Union soldiers. They were all glee and 
welcome ; and Colonel Phelps and his men were 
the last people in the world to be backward in 
responding to their salutations. No one knew 
better than he that in every worthy black man 
and woman in the South the Union could find a 
helping friend if it would. By whatever free- 
masonry it was brought about, the negroes re- 
ceived the impression, that day, that those Ver- 
monters and themselves were on the same side. 

This Colonel Phelps is one of the remarkable 
figures of the war. A tall, loose-jointed, stout- 
hearted, benignant man of fifty, the soul of hon- 
esty and goodness. It had been his fortune, 
before his retirement from the army, to be sta- 
tioned for many years in the South. For the 
last thirty years, if any one had desired to test, 
with the utmost possible severity, a New Eug- 
lander's manhood and intelligence, the way to do 
it was to make him an officer of the United 
States army, and station him in a slave state. 
If there was any lurking atom of baseness in 
him, slavery would be sure to find it out, and 
work upon it to the corruption of the entire man. 
If there was even defective intelligence or weak- 
ness of will, as surely as he continued to live 
there, he would, at last, be found to have yielded 
to the seducing influence, and to have lost his 
moral sense : first enduring, then tolerating, de- 
fending, applauding, participating. For slavery 
is of such a nature, that it must either debauch 
or violently repel the man who is obliged to live 
long in the hourly contemplation of it. There 
can be no medium or moderation. No man can 
hate slavery a little, or like it a little. It must 
either spoil or madden him if he lives with it 
long enough. Colonel Phelps stood the test ; 
but, at the same time, the long dwelling upon 
wrongs which he could do nothing to redress, 
the long contemplation of suflferings which he 
could not stir to relieve, impaired, in some degree, 
the healthiness, the balance of his mind. He 
seemed, at times, a man of one idea. "With such 



tenderness as his, such quickness and depth of 
moral feeling, it is a wonder he did not go raving 
mad. When the war began, he was at home 
upon his farm, a man of wealth for rural Ver- 
mont; a ad now he was at Fortress Monroe, 
commanding a regiment of three months' militia ; 
a very model of a noble, brave, modest, and 
righteous warrior, full in the belief that the 
longed-for lime of deliverance had come. It 
was a strange coming together, this of the Mas- 
sachusetts democrat and the Vermont aboUtionist 
— both armed in the same cause. General But- 
ler felt all the worth of his new friend, and they 
worked together with abundant harmony and 
good- will. 

Colonel Phelps's reconnoissance led to the 
selection of a spot between Hampton and the 
fort for an encampment. The next day, General 
Butler went in person to Newport News, and, 
on the fifth day after taking . command of the 
post, had a competent force at that vital point, 
intrenching and fortifying. Meanwhile, in ex- 
tensive dispatches to head-quarters, he had made 
known to General Scott his situation and his 
wants. He asked for horses, vehicles, ammuni- 
tion, field-artillery, and a small force of cavalry. 
Also (for attacks upou the enemy's shore batter- 
ies), he asked for fifty surf- boats, " of such con- 
struction as the lieutenant-general caused to be 
prepared for the landing at Vera Cruz, the effi- 
ciency and adaptedness of which has passed into 
history." He asked for the completion of the 
artesian well, and the construction of the short 
railroad. He justified the occupation of New- 
port News, on the ground that it lay close to the 
obvious highway, by water, to Richmond, upon 
which already (jeneral Butler had cast a gen- 
eral's ej'e. 

On the evening of the second day after hie 
arrival at the post, the event occurred which 
will for ever connect the name of General But- 
ler with the history of the abolition of slavery 
in America. Colonel Phelps's visit to Hampton 
had thrown the white inhabitants into such 
alarm that most of them prepared for flight, 
and many left their homes that night, never to 
soe them again. In the confusion three negroes 
escaped, and, making their way across the 
bridges, gave themselves up to a Union picket, 
saying that their master. Colonel Mallory, was 
about to remove them to North Carolina to work 
upon rebel fortifications there, far away from 
their wives and children, who were to be left in 
Hampton. They were brought to the fortress, 
and the circumstance was reported to the gen- 
eral in the morning. He questioned each of 
them separately, and the truth of their story 
became manifest. He needed laborers. He was 
aware that the rebel batteries that were rising 
around him were the work chiefly of slaves, 
without whose assistance they could not have 
been erected in time to give him trouble. He 
wished to keep these men. The garrison wished 
them kept. The country would have deplored 
or resented the sending of them away. If they 
had been Colonel MaUory's horses, or Colonel 
Mallory's spades, or Colonel MaUory's percussion 
caps, be would have seized them and used them, 
without hesitation. Why not property more 
valuable for the purposes of the rebellion than 
any other ? 

He pronounced the electric words, " These 



32 



FORTRESS MONROE. 



men are Contraband of War ; set them at 
work." 

" An epigram," as Winthrop remarks, " abol- 
ished slavery in the United States." The word 
took; for it gave the country an^xeuse for doing 
what it was longing to do. Every one remem- 
bers how relieved the " conservative " portion 
of the people felt, when they found that the 
slaves could be used on the side of the Union, 
without giving Kentucky a new argument 
against it, Kentucky at that moment controlling 
•the policy of the administration. '■ The South," 
said Wendell Phillips, in a recent speech, 
" fought to sustain slavery, and the North fought 
not to have it hurt. But Butler pronounced the 
magic word, 'contraband,' and summoned the 
negro into the arena. It was a poor word. I 
<io not know that it is sound law, but Lord 
Chatham said, ' nullus liber homo^ is coarse Latin, 
but it is worth all the classics. Contraband is a 
bad word, and may be bad law, but it is worth 
all the Constitution ; ~yr in a moment of critical 
emergency it summoned the saving elements 
into the national arena, and it showed the gov- 
ernment how far the sound fiber of the nation 
extended." 

By the time the three negroes were comfort- 
ably at work upon the new bake-house, GeneraJ 
Butler received the following brief epistle, 
signed, "J. B. Carey, major-acting, Virginia vol- 
unteers : " 

" Be pleased to designate some time and place 
when it will be agreeable to you to accord me a 
personal interview." 

The general complied with the request. In 
the afternoon two groups of horsemen might 
have been seen approaching one another on the 
Hampton road, a mile from the fort. One of 
these consisted of General Butler and two of his 
stafif. Major Fay and Captain Haggerty ; the 
other, of Major Carey and two or three friends. 
Major Carey and General Butler were old politi- 
■eal allies, having acted in concert both at 
Charleston and at Baltimore — hard-shell demo- 
crats both. After an exchange of courteous 
salutations, and the introduction of companions, 
the conference begaiL The conversation, was, 
as nearly as can be recalled, in these words : 

Major Carey: "I have sought this interview, 
sir, for the purpose of ascertaining upon what 
principles you intend to conduct the war in this 
neighborhood." 

The geaeral bowed his willingness to give the 
information desired. 

Major Carey : " I ask, first, whether a pas- 
sage through the blockading fleet will be al- 
lowed to the families of citizens of Yirginia, • 
who may desire to go nortn or south to a place , 
of safe 13'." 

General Butler: "The presence of the fam- 
ilies of belligerents is always the best hostage 
for their good behavior. One of the objects of 
the blockade is to prevent the admission of sup-, 
plies of provisions into Virginia, while she con- 
tinues in an attitude hostile to the government. 
Reducing the number of consumers would ne- 
cessarily tend to the postponement of the object 
in view. Besides, the passage of vessels 
through the blockade would involve an amount 
of labor, in the way of surveillance, to prevent 
abuse, which it would be impossible to perform 



I am under the necessity, therefore, of refusing 
the privilege." 

Major Carey: will the passage of families de- 
siring to go north be permitted ?" 

General Butler: with the exception of an in- 
terruption at Baltimore, which has now been dis- 
posed ofj the travel of peaceable citizens through 
the North has not been hindered ; and as to the 
internal line through Virginia, your friends have, 
for the present, entire control of it. The au- 
thorities at Washington can judge better than I 
upon this point, and travelers can well go that 
way in reaching the North." 

Major Carey : I am informed that three ne- 
groes, belonging to Colonel Mallory, have es- 
caped within your lines. I am Colonel Mal- 
lory's agent, and have charge of his property. 
What do you intend to do with regard to those 
negroes ?" 

General Butler: I propose to retain them." 

Major Carey: "Do you mean, then, to set 
aside your constitutional obligations ?" 

General Butler : " I mean to abide by the de- 
cision of Virginia, as expressed in her ordinance 
of secession, passed the day before yesterday 
I am undei* no constitutional obligations to a 
foreign country, which Virginia now claims to 
be." 

Major Gary : " But you say, we can't secede, 
and so you can not consistently detain the ne- 
groes." 

General Butler : " But you say you have se- 
ceded, and so you can not consistently claim 
them. I shall detain the negroes as contraband 
of war. You are using them upon your bat- 
teries. It is merely a question whether they 
shall be used for or against the government. 
Nevertheless, though I greatly need the labor 
which has providentially fallen into my hands, 
if Colonel Mallory will come into the fort and 
take the oath of allegiance to the United States, 
he shall have his negroes, and I will endeavo' 
to hire them from him." 

Major Carey: " Colonel Mallory is absent." 

The interview here terminated, and each 
party, with polite farewell, went its way. 

This was on Friday, May 24. On Sunday 
morning, eight more negroes came in, and were 
received. On Monday morning, forty-seven 
more, of all ages; men, women, and children; 
several whole families among them. In the after- 
noon, twelve men, good field hands, arrived. 
And they continued to come in daily, in tens, 
twenties, thirties, till the number of contrabands 
in the various camps numbered more than nine 
hundred. A commissioner of negro affairs was 
appointed, who taught, fed, and governed them; 
wlio reported, after several weeks' experience, 
that they worked well and cheerfully, requiring 
no urging, and perfectly comprehended him 
when he told them that they were as much 
entitled to freedom as himself. They were 
gentle, docile, careful and efficient laborers; 
their demeanor digaihed, their conversation al- 
ways decent. 

Many strange scenes occurred in connection 
with this flight of the negroes to "Freedom 
Fort," as they styled it ; for one of which, per 
haps, space may be spared here. It gives us a 
glimpse into one of those ancient Virginia homes 
suddenly desolated by the war. Major Win- 



FORTEESS MONROE. 



36 



Jirop, I sbould premise, had now arrived at tiie 
fortrt'ss. He came just in time to take the place 
of military secretary to the geueral comiriandirig, 
T/hich liad been vacant only a day or two, and 
was now a liappy member of the general's fam- 
ily, winning his rapid waj' to all hearts. I 
mention him here because his comrades re- 
member how intensely amused he was at the 
interview about to be described. If he had 
lived a few days longer than he did, he would 
probably have told it himself, in his brief, bright, 
graphic manner. The office of the general at 
head-quarters was the place where the scene 
occurred. 

Enter, an elderly, grave, church- warden look- 
ing gentleman, a,pparently oppressed with care 
and grief He was recognized as a respectable 
farmer of the ueigliborhood, the ov/ner, so 
called, of thirty or forty negroes, and a farm- 
house in the dilapidated style of architecture, 
which might V^e named the Virginian Order. 
Advancing to the table he announced his name 
and business. He said he had come to ask the 
officer commanding the post for the return of 
one of his negroes — only one ; and he proceeded 
to relate the circumstances upon which he based 
his modest request. But he told his tale in a 
manner so measured and woful, revealing such a 
curious ignorance of any other world than the 
little circle of ideas and persons in v/hich he had 
moved all his life, with such naive and comic 
simplicity, that the hearers found it impossible 
to take a serious view of his really lamentable 
situation. He proceeded in something like these 
words: — 

" I have always treated my negroes kindly. 
I supposed they loved me. Last Sunday, I went 
to church. When I returned from church, and 
entered into my house, I called Mary to take off 
my coat and hang it up. But Mary did not 
come. And again I called Mary in a louder 
roico, but I received no answer. Then I went 
into the room to find Mary, but I found her not. 
There was no one in the room. I went into the 
ki.t.ohen. There was uo one in the kitchen. I 
went into the garden. There was uo one in the 
gardon. I went to the negro quarters. There 
was no one at the negro quarters. All my ne- 
groes had departed, sir, while I was at the house 
of 'jod. Then I went back again into my house. 
And soon there came to me James, who has 
been my body-servant for many years. And I 
-luicl 00 James ; 

'• ' James, what has happened ?' 

" And James said, ' AU the people have gone 
to the fort.' 

'■'While I was gone to the house of God, 
James ?' 

'' And Jameij said, ' Yes, master, they're all 
gone.' 

" And I said t-o James, ' why didn't you go 
too, Jaaies ?' 

"And James said, 'Master, I'll never leave 
you.' 

• ' Well James,' said I, ' as there's nobody to 
cook, see if you can get me some cold victuals 
and some whisky.' 

"So James got me some cold victuals, and I 
aie ihem witii a heavy heart. And when I had 
jaten, I said to James ; 

" ' Jame.s, it is of no use for us to stay here. 
Let us go to your mistress.' 



" His mistress, sir, had gone away from her 
home, eleven miles, fleeing from the dangers of 
the war,, 

" 'And, so, James,' said I, 'harness the best 
iiorse to the cart, and put into the cart our best 
bed, and some bacon, and some corn meal, and. 
James, some whisky, and we will go unto youi 
mistress.' 

" And James did even as I told him, and some 
few necessaries besides. And we started. It 
was a heavy load for the horse. I trudged along 
on foot, and James led the horse. It was lato at 
night, sir, when we arrived, and I said to 
James : 

" • James, it is of no use to unload the cart to- 
night. Put the horse into the barn, and unload 
the cart in the morning.' 

" And James said, ' Yes, master.' 

" I met my wife, sir ; I embraced her, and 
went to "bod ; and, notwithstanding my troubles, 
• I slept soundly. The next morning, James icas 
(jone ! Then I came here, and the first thing I 
saw, when I got here, was James peddling cab- 
bages to your men out of that very cart." 

Up to this point, the listeners had managed to 
keep their countenances under tolerable control. 
But the climax to the story was drawled out in 
a manner so lugubriously comic, that neither 
the general nor the staff could longer conceal 
their laughter. The poor old gentleman, uncon- 
scious of any but the serious aspects of his case, 
gave them one sad, reproachful look, and left 
the fort without uttering another word. He had 
fallen upon evil times. 

General Butler, meanwhile, had been studying 
the country around him. His dispatches to 
head-quarters teem with evidence that inex- 
perienced as he was in the business of wagisg 
war, he comprehended the advantages and op- 
portunities of his position. The uppermost 
thought in his mind was, that the way to Rich- 
mond was by the James river — not through the 
mazes of Manassas and the wilderness beyond. 
What he meant was this : 

Begin the war iierj?. Strike at Richmond 
from this point. Sever Virginia from the South, 
by darting hence upon her railroad centers. 
Make war where your navy can co-operate. Use 
the means which God and nature have given 
you, and which Colonel Dimmiek preserved. 
Don't sit there in Washington, puttering upon 
forts and deflsnses, listening anxiously to the roar 
from the North, •' On to Richmond ;" but give the 
enemy something to do elsewhere, far away from 
your capital and your sacred thin!,'s, yet made 
near to you by your command of tiie sea. 

General Butler's plans might nat have been 
completely successful; but if tiiey had been 
adopted we should have had no I;ull Run ; and 
perhaps, no Merrimac — the true cause of the 
failure of the peninsular campaign. Other dis- 
asters we might have suffered, but surely 
nothing so bad as Bull Run and the Meriimac, 
the most costly calamities that ever befell a 
country. 

General Scott, intent solely on the defense of 
Washington, replied so vaguely to our gen- 
eral's eager and frequent dispatches' that he 
could scarcely tell whether his plans were ap- 
proved or disapproved. If, however, the words of 
the commander-in-chief were equivocal, his con- 
duct was not. No horses were sent, nor battery 



34 



GREAT BETHEL. 



of field artillery, nor vehicles, nor cavalry, aor 
boats. No objection to the railroad, the artesian 
■well, the bake-house, the intrenched camps ; but 
whatever was needful for an advance beyond 
half a da3''s marcli was withheld. Such was the 
scarcity of horses that the troops were constantlj' 
seen drawing wagon loads of supplies. A re- 
porter writes : "A picture in the drama of the 
camp has this moment passed my quarters. It 
is a gang of the Massachusetts boj^s hauling a 
huge military wagon, loaded. They have struck 
up 'The Red, White and Blue.' They believe 
in it, and consequently render it with true 
patriotic inspiration. They pause and give three 
rousing cheers ; and now they dash oft' like fire- 
men, which they are, shouting and thundering 
fdong at a pace that makes the drowsy horses 
they pass prick up their ears." To supply the 
most pressing occasions, General Butler had nine 
horses of his own brought from Lowell, and 
these were all he had for the public service for 
more than two months. Another reporter writes, 
June 28th : "Among the passengers on board 
the steamer to the fortress was Colonel Butler, 
brother of the general, who went to Washington 
last week to get orders for the purchase of 
horses, without which not a single stop can be 
Hiadje iu advance, simph'- because the forces here 
are entirely destitute of the means of transpor- 
tation, lie got orders and succeeded in buying 
one hundred and thirty-five very good horses, 
mainly in Baltimore, whereupon the government 
immediately sent up and took one hundred of 
them for the artillery service at Washington. 
This was pretty sharp practice, and gives rise to 
comment on the inability of the authorities at 
the capital to see anything but Washington 
worthy of a moment's thought in connection 
with the present war." 

The lamentable affair of Great Bethel occurred 
while General Butler was waiting for the sup- 
plies which were requisite for successful op- 
erations in the field. It happened thus : 

The forced inaction of General Butler had the 
eflfect of making the enemy bolder in approaching 
his lines. They would send parties from York- 
town, who "would come down within sight of 
the Union pickets near Hampton, and seize both 
Union men and negroes, conscripting the former, 
using the latter on their batteries. Major Win- 
throp, always on the alert, learned from a con- 
traband, George Scott by name, that the rebels 
Lad established themselves at two points between 
Yorktown and the fort, where they had thrown 
up intrenchments, and Avhence they nightly 
issued, seizing and plundering. George Scott 
described the localities with perfect correctness, 
and Winthrop himselfj accompanied by George, 
repeatedly reconnoitered the road leading to 
them. On one point only was the negro guide 
mistaken : he thought the rebels were two thou- 
sand in number ; whereas, when he saw them, 
five hundred was about their force. They had 
eleven or twelve hundred men in the two Beth- 
els on the day of the action, but not more than 
five hundred took part in it; the rest having 
arrived, on a run, from Yorktown while the 
"battle" was proceeding, and, before they had 
recovered breath, it was over. 

Major Winthrop reported to General Butler, 
who resolved to attempt the capture of the two 
posts. His orders restricted him to advances of 



half a day's march. Great Bethel being nm^ 
miles distant.might be considered within the limit. 
Now, all was excitement and activity at head- 
quarters — no one so happy as Winthrop, who 
threw himself, heart and soul, into the affair. 
The first rough plan of the expedition, drawn up 
in his own hand lies before me; brief, haaty, 
colloquial, interlined ; resembling tlie first sketch 
of an " article " or a story ; such as, doubtless 
he had often dashed upon papor at Staten Island 

PLAN OF ATTACK BY TV?T. DETACFMENTS UPOJf 
THE LITTLE BETliF.L AST) BIG BETilEL. 

A regiment or battalion to march from New- 
port News, and a rogiuiont to march from Camp 
Hamilton — JjuryMs. Each v/ill be supported 
by sufiBcieul reserves under arms in camp, and 
with advanced guards out on the road of march. 

Duryee to push out two pickets at 10 p. M. ; 
one two and a half miles beyond Hampton, oa 
the county road, but not so far as to alarm the 
enemy. This is important. Second picket half 
as far as the first. Both pickets to keep as much. 
out of sight as possible. Ko one whatever 
to be allowed to pass out through their lines. 
Persons to be allowed to pass inward tow^ard 
Hampton — unless it appears that they intend to 
go roundabout and dodge through to the front. 

At 12, midnight. Colonel Duryee will march 
his regiment, with fifteen rounds cartridges, on 
the county road towards Little Bethel. Scows 
will be provided to ferry them across Hampton 
Creek. March to be rapid ; hul not hurried. 

A howitzer with canister and shrapnel to go. 

A wagon with planks and material to repair 
the Newmarket Bridge. 

Duryee to have the 200 rifles. He will pick 
the men to whom to intnist them. 

Rocket to be thrown up fi'om Newport News. 
Notify Commodore Pendergra.stof this to prevent 
general alarm. 

Newport News movement to be made some- 
v.'hat later, as the distance is less. 

If we find the enemy and surprise them, men 
will fire one volley, if desirable ; not reload, and 
go ahead with the bayonet. 

As the attack is to be by night, or dufjk oi 
morning, and in two detachments, our,]^^eop'i~ 
should have some token, say a wir.ze rag (or a 
dirty white rag) on the left arm. 

Perhaps the detachments who are to do the 
job should be smaller than a regiment, 300 or 500, 
as the right and left of the attack would be more 
easilj' handled. 

If we bag the Little Bethel men, push on to 
Big Bethel, and similarly bag them. Bum botl; 
the Bethels, or blov/ up if brick. 

To protect our rear in case we take the field- 
pieces, and the enemy should march hid main 
body (if he has any) to recover thorn, it would be 
well to have a squad of competent artillerists, 
regular or other, to handle the capturc^l g'ms ou 
the retirement of our main body. Also spikes ;o 
spike them, if retaken. 

George Scott to have a shootmg-iron. 

Perhaps Duryee's men would be awkward witl: 
a new arm in a night or early dawn attack, 
whert there will be little marksman duty to per- 
form. Most of the work will be done with tine 
bayonet, and they are already handy with tho 
old ones. 



G-REAT BETHEL. 



35 



" George Scott to have a shooting-iron I" So, 
the first suggestion of arming a black man in this 
war came from Theodore Winthrop. George 
Scott, liad a shooting-iron. 

This plan, the joint production of the general 
and his secretary, was substantially adopted, and 
orders in accordance therewith, were issued. 

The command of the expedition was given to 
.•^rigadier-Geueral E. W. P ierce, of Massachu- 
setts, a bra^'0 and good man, totally without 
military experience except upon parade-grounds 
on training days. General Butler, as we have 
before said, was his junior in the militia of 
Massachusetts, and hacl been selected by Gov- 
ernor Andrew to command the first brigade 
which left the state, over the head of General 
Pearce, who desired to go. It was by way of 
atonement to General Pierce for having taken 
the place which belonged by seniority to him, 
that General Butler assigned him to the com- 
mand. The aiotive was honorable to his feelings 
AS a man. On Boston Common the act would 
nave bf-en highly becoming and quite unobjec- 
lionabk. But, alas! the theater of action was 
not Boston Common. 

General Butler has au eye lor the man he 
wants. This was the first time, and the last 
iirac, in his military c&reer, that he has selected 
aa officer for an independent command, for any 
other reason but a conviction tliat lie was the 
best man at hand for the duty to be done. Gen- 
eral Pierce was a brave and good man ; re- 
puted then to be such ; since proved to be 
such; but he was not the best man at 
band I'or the duty to be done! Out of a 
good citi'^n you can make a good soldier in 
tour months; but a good officer is a creature 
slowly produced. Seven years in peace, one 
year in war, may do it, but he Tmist have served 
an apprenticeship, before he is fit to be intrusted 
with the lives of men and the honor of a countrj-. 
The day before Bethel, General Butler had the 
brains of a general, the courage of a general, the 
toughness of a general, tuo technical knowledge 
of a general : but to fit him for independent com- 
mand, he still needed sojtio such harsh and bitter 
experience as now awaited him. The day after 
Bethel, he had made a prodigious stride in his 
military' education, for he is a man who can take 
a hint. The whole secret of war was revealed 
in the flash and thunder, the disaster and shame, 
of that sorry skirmish. 

All went well until near the dawn of day, 
June 10th, when the f^.'vces were to form their 
junction near Little Bethel. There Colonel Ben- 
dix's regiment saw approacliing over the crest of 
a low hill what seemed, in the magnifying dusk, 
a body of cavalry. It was Colonel Townsend's 
regiment which they saw. Knowing that Gen- 
eral Butler had no cavalry. Colonel Bendix con- 
cluded, of course, that they were a body of 
mounted rebels. The fatal order was given to 
fire, and ten of Colonel Townsend's men fell: 
two killed and eight wounded. The fire was re- 
lumed in a desultory manner, without loss to 
the regiment of Colonel Bendix. Of the con- 
fusion that followed, the double-quick counter- 
marching, the alarm to friends and foes I need 
not speak. The dawn of day revealed the error, 
and then the question arose, whether to advance 
'jx to return to the fortress. A surprise was no 
longer possible, and the inhabitants of the coun- 



[ try concurred in stating the force of the enemy 
' at four or five thousand, with formidable aitil- 
lery. Colonel Duryee had already captured the 
picket at Little Bethel. The enemy, therefore, 
fully warned, must be concentrated at Great 
Bethel. Major Winthrop and Lieutenant But- 
ler, both of the commanding general's stafif, united 
in most earnestly advising an advance, and 
General Pierce gave no reluctant assent. He 
had sent back for reinforcements which were 
soon on the march to join him. 

At half past nine, he had airived within a 
mile of the enemy, with two regiments and four 
pieces of cannon of small caliber, one of which 
was the gun of Lieutenant Greble of the regular 
artillery. Two other regiments were approach- 
ing. The ground may be roughly described 
thus : Au oblong piece of open country, sur- 
rounded on three sides by woods. General Pierce 
entering at the end where there was no wood. 
The enemy's position was near the upper end. 
but behind a strip of wood which concealed it. 
It was, in some slight degree, protected in front 
by a creek twelve feet wide and three deep. 
Their battery consisted of four pieces of field ar- 
tillery, one of which becoming disabled through 
the disarrangement of the trigger-apparatus, was 
useless. The earthworks, hastily thrown up in 
front of the guns, added scarcely any strength to 
the position, for they were less than three feet 
high on the outside. A boy ten years old could 
have leaped over them ; a boy ten years old 
could have waded the creek. The breastworks 
were, in fact, so low that, the wheels of the ene- 
my's guns were embedded in the earth, in order 
to get the carriages low enough to be protected. 
These facts I learn from a, Union officer of high 
rank, who aft;erward became famihar with the 
ground. Behind these trivial works were five 
hundred rebel troops, who were re -enforced 
while the action was going on with six hundred 
more from Yorktown, thoroughly bloivn with 
running. This was the real strength of the ene- 
my, whom General Pierce firmly believed to 
consist of four or five thousand troops strongly 
posted, and well supplied with artillery. 

General Pierce and his command then stood 
at half-past nine, on the high road leading from 
Hampton to Yorktown a mile from the enemy, 
whose battery commanded the road. That bat- 
tery was so placed that it could have been ap- 
proached within fifty j'-ards without the attack- 
ing party leaving the woods. Nor was there 
any serious obstacle to turning it either on the 
right or on the left. This not being immediately 
perceived. Colonel Duryee and Lieutenant Greble 
marched along the high road into the enemy's 
fire, and soon the cannon balls began to play 
over their heads, falling far to the rear. The 
men gave three cheers and kept on their way. 
Soon, however, the enemy fired better, and some 
men were struck ; not many, for the total loss 
of Colonel Duryee's regiment that day was four 
killed, and twelve wounded. To these troops, 
in their inexperience, it seemed that work of 
this kind could not be down in the programme. 
They also received the impression that the en- 
emy's three pieces of cannon were thirty at least, 
and that, upon the whole, this was not the right 
road to the battery. So they sidled oft' into the 
woods, and there remained waiting for some one 
to tell them what to do next Greble kept on 



-S€ 



CONSEQUENCES OF GREAT BETHiL 



CO a point three hundred pirds from the eueray, 
where he planted his gun, and maintained a 
Bteady and eftective fire upon them for an hour 
and a half. I say effective. It did not kill a 
••ebel; but it had the effect of keeping them 
within their works, and gi^'iug tliem the idea 
that they were attacked. 

After Colonel Duryee had retired to the woods, 
there was a long pause in the operations, during 
which a good plan was matured for turning the 
enemy's battery, and getting in behind it. It 
was agreed that Colonel Townsend should keep 
well away to the left, near the wood, or through 
the wood, and go on to the Yorktown road 
beyond the batter}'-; then turn dow-n upon it, 
and dash in. Colonel Duryee and Colonel 
Bendix were to niai-ch through the woods on 
the right, and penetrate to the same road below 
the battery, and then rush in upon it simulta- 
neously with Colonel Townsend. It was an 
excellent and most feasible scheme, certain of 
success if executed with merely tolerable vigor 
and resolution. Colonel Duryee again advanced, 
this time through the woods. He went as far 
the creek, and concluding it to be impassable by 
his " Zouaves," retired a second time with some 
trifling loss ; Lieutenant-Colonel Warren, and a 
few brave men remaining long enough to bring 
away the body and the gun of poor Greble, shot 
by the enemy's last discharge. Meanwhile, 
Colonel Townsend was making his way far on 
the other side of the road. He was going 
straight to victory ; Major Winthrop among the 
foremost, full of ardor and confidence, and the 
men in good heart. In five minutes more he 
would have gained a position upon the York- 
town road, beyond the battery, from which they 
could have marched upon the enemy, as in an 
open field. Then occurred a fatal mistake. In 
the haste of the start, two companies of the 
regiment had marched on the other side of a 
stone fence ; and, anxious to get forward, were 
coming up to the front at some distance from the 
main body in the open field. Colonel Townsend 
seeing these troops, supposed that they were a 
body of the enemy coming out to attack him in 
flank. He ordered a halt, and then relumed to 
the point of departure to meet this imaginary 
foe. Winthrop, as is supposed, did not hear the 
order to retire. With a few troops he still 
pressed on, and when they halted, still advanced, 
and reached a spot thirty yards from the enemy's 
battery. With one companion, private John M. 
Jones, of Averment, he sprang upon a log to get 
a view of the position, which he alone that day 
clearly saw. A ball pierced his brain. He 
almost instantly breathed his last. His body 
being left on the field fell into the hands of the 
foe. In their opinion, he was the only man in 
the Union force who displayed " even an approx- 
imation to courage," and they gave his remains 
the honorable burial due to the body of a hero, 
and returned his watch and other effects to his 
com) landing officer. 

General Pierce, with the advice of all the col- 
onels present, except Colonel Duryee, now gave 
the order to return to camp : and so the " battle" 
of Great Bethel ended. Some of the companies 
retired in tolerable order. But there was a 
great deal of panic and preeipitation, though the 
pursuit was late and languid. The noble Chap- 
lain Winslow and the brave Lieutenant-Colonel 



G. K. Warren,* with a few otiier firm men, r^ 
mained behind ; and. all exhausted aa they werf 
drew the wounded in v/agons nine miles, frcu 
the scene of the action to the nearest camp. 

The Union loss in killed and permanently 
disabled wns twenty-five. The rebel loss, ^ne 
man killed and three wouno^d. A few Lour? 
after the action. Great Bethel was evacuated 
If General Pierce had withdrawn his men o-t •/ 
fire, and caused them to sit down and eat theii 
dinuer, it is highly probable the enemj woula 
have retreated; for they were greatly calnum 
bered, and were perfectly aware that one regi 
rnent of steady and experienced troops, led by a 
man who knew his business, could have taken 
them all prisoners in twenty minutes. For the 
most part, our men, I am assured, behaved aa 
well as could have been expected. All they 
wanted was commanders who knew what was 
the right thing to do, and who would go forward 
and show them how to do it. One well-com- 
pacted, well-sustained rush from any p^int o: 
approach, and the battery had been theiit;. 

The day after Bethel was a sad one at rortress 
Monroe. Lieutenant Greble's father was on his 
way to visit his son, and arrived only to take 
back his remains to his family, tbliowod by the 
sorrow of the whole command. Thr> i.^t^i of 
Winthrop was not yet known ; he was reported 
only among the "missing." Before leaving 
head-quarters he had borrowed a g-aii of tlie 
general, saying, gayly, " I may want to take a 
pop at them." In the course of iha ucruiug, 
this gun was brought in, with such iufbrmatiou 
as led to the conclusion that he must have fallen ;. 
perhaps, thrown his life purposely away. During 
his short residence at head-quartors lie had en- 
deared himself to aU hearts ; to uoJio more thai; 
to the general and Mrs. Butler. IIo waa mourned 
as a brother by those who had kno^'^'a him but 
sixteen days. 

To the mother of his dead comrade, General 
Butler addressed the ibuowing letter : 

Hkad-Qcabteks, DspARrMBNT OF Virginia, 
June \3th, 13G1. 

" My Dear Madam : — The newspapers have 
anticipated me in the sorrowful intelligence 
which I have to communicate. Your son Theo- 
dore is no more. Ha fell mortally wounde'd from 
a rifle shot, ac County Bridge. I have conversed 
with private John M. Jones, of the North field 
company in tho Vermont regiment, v\ho stood 
beside Major Wiuth.roy -when he fell, and sup- 
ported him in his arms. 

"Your son's death was in a few moments, 
without apparent anguish. Afler Major Win- 
throp had delivered tlie order with which he was 
charged, to the commander of the regiment, he 
took ins rifle, and while his guide held his horse 
in the woods in the rear, with too daring bravery, 
went to the front ; while there, stepping upon a 
log to get a full view of the force, he received 
the fatal shot. His friend, Colonel Wardrop, t 
Massachusetts, had loaned him a sword for the 
occasion, on which his name was marked in full, 
so that he was taken by the enemy for the colo- 
nel himself. 



* Since brigadier-general and chief of staff to General 
Meade — distinguished on many fields, particularly at 
the battles in rennsylvania in June, 1866. 



CONSEQUENCES OF GREAT BETHEL. 



37 



"Major Wiutlirop had advanced so close to 
the parapet, that it was not thought expedient 
by those in command to send forward any party 
to bring off the body, and thus endanger the 
lives of others in the attempt to secure his re- 
mains, as the rebels remorselessly fired upon all 
the small parties that went forward for the pur- 
pose of bringing off their wounded comrades. 

" Had your gallant son been alive, I doubt not 
ho would have advised this course in regard to 
another. I have assurances from the oflBcer in 
command of the rebel forces at County Bridge, 
that Major Winthrop received at their hand a re- 
spectful and decent burial. 

" His personal effects found upon him, will be 
given up to my flag of truce, with the exception 
of his watch, which has been sent tp Yorktown, 
and which I am assured will be returned through 
me to yourself. 

" I have given thus particularl}' these sad de- 
tails, because I know and have experienced the 
fond inquiries of a mother's heart respecting her 
son's acts. 

" My dear madam 1 although a stranger, my 
tears will flow with yours in grief for the loss of 
your brave and too gallant son, my true friend 
and brother. 

" I had not known him long, but his soldierly 
qualities, his daring courage, his true-hearted 
friendship, his genuine sympathies, his cultivated 
mind, his high moral tone, all combined to so 
win me to him, that he had twined himself about 
my heart with the cords of a brotlier's love. 

" The very expedition which resulted so un- 
fortunately for him, made him all the more dear 
to me. Partly suggested by himself, he entered 
into the necessary preparations for it with such 
alacrity, cool judgment, and careful foresight, in 
all the details that might render it successful, as 
gave great promise of future usefulness in his 
chosen profession. When, in answer to his re- 
quest to be permitted to go witli it, I suggested 
to him that my correspondence was very heavy, 
and he would be needed at home, he playfully 
replied : general, we will all work extra hours, 
Mid make that up when we get back. The affair 
can't go on without me, you know.' The last 
words I heard him say before his good-night, 
when we parted, were, ' If anything happens I 
have given my mother's address to Mr. Green. 
His Inst thoughts were with his mother; his 
last acta were for his country and her cause. 

" I have used the words ' unfortunate expedi- 
tion for him !' Nay, not so; too fortunate thus to 
die doing his duty, his whole duty, to his coun- 
try, as a hero, and a patriot. Unfortunate to us 
only who are left to mourn the loss to ourselves 
and our country. 

" Permit me, madam, in the poor degree I may, 
to take such a place in your heart that we may 
mingle our griefs, as we do already our love and 
admiration for him who has only gone before us 
to that better v/orld where, through the ' merits 
of Him who suffered for us,' we shall all meet 
together. 

" Most sincerely and affectionately, 

"Yours, Benj. F. Butler." 

I must not leave this melancholy subject with- 
out mentioning the noble, and, I believe, unique 
atonement made by General Pierce for whatever 
■errors he mav have committed at Great Bethel. 



He served out his term of three months in such 
extreme sorrow as almost to threaten his reason. 
He then enlisted as a private in a three year's 
regiment, and served for some time in that 
honorable lowliness. Appointed, at length, to 
the command of a regiment, he served with dis- 
tinction through the campaign of the peninsula, 
where, in one of the battles, he was severely 
wounded. 

General Butler learnt the lesson first taught 
by the failure at Great Bethel, since repeated on 
so many disastrous fields. That lesson was, the 
utter insuflSciency of the volunteer system aa 
then organized, and the absolute necessity of offi- 
cers morally and professionally superior to the men 
under their command. The southern social sys- 
tem, at least, leads to the selection of officers to 
whom the men are accustomed to look up. Our 
officers, on the contrary, must have a reoi su- 
periority, both of knowledge and of character, in 
order to bind a regiment into coherency and 
force. General Butler had under his command 
captains, majors and colonels who owed their 
election chiefly to their ability to bestow un- 
limited drinks. There were drunkards and 
thieves among them; to say nothing of those 
who, from mere ignorance and natural inefficiency, 
could maintain over their men no degree what- 
ever of moral or military ascendancy. The gen- 
eral saw the evil. In a letter to the secretary of 
war, June 26th, he pointed out the partial rem- 
edy which was afterward adopted. 

"I desire," he wrote, " to trouble you upon a 
subject of the last importance to the organization 
of our volunteer regiments. Many of the volun- 
teers, both two and three year's men; have cho- 
sen their own company officers, and in some 
cases their field officers, and they have been ap- 
pointed without any proper miUtary examination, 
before a proper board, according to the plan of 
organization of the volunteers. There should be 
some means by which these officers can be sifted 
out. The efficiency and usefulness of the regi- 
ment depend upon it. To give you an illustra- 
tion : In one regiment I have had seven appli- 
cations for resignation, and seventeen applications 
for leave of absence ; some on the most frivolous 
pretexts, by every grade of officers under the 
colonel. I have yielded to many of these appli- 
cations, and more readily than I should other- 
wise have done, because I was convinced that 
their absence was of benefit rather than harm. 
Still, this absence is virtually a fraud upon the 
United States. It seems as if there must be some 
method other than a court-martial of ndding the 
service of these officers, when there are so many 
competent men ready, willing, and eager to serve 
their country. Ignorance and incompetency are 
not crimes to be tried by a court martial, while 
they are great misfortunes to an officer. As at 
present the whole matter of the organization is 
informal, without direct authority of law in its 
details, may not the matter be reached by having 
a board appointed at any given post, composed 
of three or five, to whom the competency, effi- 
ciency, and propriety of conduct of a given officer 
might be submitted ? And that upon the re- 
port of that board, approved by the commander 
and the department, the officer be dropped with- 
out the disgrace attending the sentence of a 
court-martial?" 

Meanwhile, the general labored most eameatlj 



38 



CONSEQUENCES OF GREAT BETHEL. 



to raise the standard of discipline in the regi- 
ments. The difiBculty was great, amounting, at 
times, to impossibility. At one time tJiere were 
thirty-eight vacancies among the officers of the 
New York regiments alone. The men, accus- 
iomed to active industry, and now compelled to 
endure the monotony of a camp, sought exeite- 
inent iu drink. It was, for some weeks, a puzzle 
at head-quarters where the soldiers obtained 
Buch abundant supplies of the means of intox- 
ication. " We used," said General Eutler, in his 
testimony before the war committee, " to send a 
picket guard up a mile and a half from Fortress 
Monroe. The men would leave perfectly sober, 
yet every night when they came back we would 
have trouble with them on account of their being 
drunk. Where they got their liquor from we 
could not tell. Night after night, we instituted 
a rigorous examination, but it was always the 
same. The men were examined over and over 
again ; their canteens were inspected, and yet 
we could find no liquor about them. At last it 
was observed that they seemed to hold their 
guns up very straight, and, upon examination 
being made, it was found that every gun-barrel 
was filled with whisky ; and it was not always 
the soldiers who did this." 

Further investigation disclosed facts still more 
distressing. An eye-witness reports; 

" General Butler ascertained that what was 
professedly the sutler's store of one of the regi- 
ments, was but a groggery. This he visited, and 
stove the heads of some half-dozen barrels, and 
spilled all the liquor of every sort to be found. 
He found a book, in which the account with a 
single regiment was kept, which disclosed a 
state of tilings truly startling. Scarcely an offi- 
cer of the regiment but had an open account, 
footing up for the single month, amounts ranging 
from $10 to $1,000. The items charged, and 
the space of time v/ithin which the liquor was 
obtained, and, of course, consumed, was truly 
astonishing, and proved the depth of demoral- 
ization to which the officers, and, I fear, conse- 
quently, the entire regiment, had become redu- 
ced. I purposely suppress a narrative of the 
scenes of debauchery and violence in the camp 
at Newport News, where the regiment has lately 
been removed, a few evenings since, resulting in 
the shooting, if not the death, of a soldier, fired 
on by an officer while both were intoxicated. 

" General Butler having possessed himself of 
the book in question, went to Newport News 
yesterday afternoon, having previously summoned 
all the commissioned officers of the regiment to 
meet him alone on the boat on his arrival. They 
came as summoned. General Butler told them 
frankly and pointedly what was the object of the 
meeting ; exhibited to them the evidence that 
was in his hands of the astonishing amounts of 
Uquor which they as ofiQcers had purchased ; 
pointed them to the consequences as seen in the 
demoralized condition of the regiments; the late 
scenes of violence, the waste of money, the in- 
justice of such conduct toward New York, after 
she had been to the expense of giving them a 
liberal outfit, and, with a princely Hberality, was 
supporting so many of the families of soldiers 
and others ; and, more than all, the deplorable 
consequences that must ensue to the cause from 
such indulgence. General Butler said there must 
and should bo a stop put to it. He said he 



himself was not a total-abstinenco man, but lie 
jiledged to the officers he addressed his word of 
honor as an officer and a man that, so long aa 
he remained in this department, intoxicating 
drinks should be banished from his quarters, and 
that he would not use them except when medi- 
cinally prescribed ; and he wanted the officers 
present to give him their pledge that henceforth 
this should be the rule of their conduct. As he 
had determined to tell no man to go, where he 
could not say come, so, in this matter, he re- 
quired no officer to do that which he would not 
first do himself General Butler enforced his 
views and the grounds of the determination he 
had formed, feelingly and forcibly, and the 
affirmative response was unanimous, with only 
one exception, he being a captain, whoso resig- 
nation Coloiiel Phelps announced was then iu 
his hands, and which General Butler instantly 
accepted. 

" This interview over, General Butler directed 
Captain Davis, the provost-marshal, and his dep- 
uty, W. H. Wiegel, to proceed to search every 
place known to sell liquor, or suspected of being 
engaged in the traffic, and destroy the same. 
Within one hour between twenty and thirty 
barrels of whisky, brandy, and other concoctions 
were emptied on the ground, amid the cheers of 
the soldiers. The proceeding elicited the warm- 
est approbation of the whole camp, and especially 
of the men, who, as patrons of the sutlers, had 
been swindled by them. The sutlers themselves, 
and all others guilty of having contributed to 
demoralize the troops, were taken into custody 
and brought to the fortress, and will be sent 
hence." 

The whisky at Fortress Monroe inspired one 
piece of wit, which amused the command. This 
was the time when it was customary to '' admiu 
ister the oath" to arrested secessionists, and set 
them at liberty. A scouting party having brought 
in a rattlesnake, the question aro.se what should 
be done with it. A drunken soldier hiccoughed 
out :. " d — n him, swear him in and let him go.' 

With equal vigor. General Butler made war 
upon a practice which no commanding offlcoi 
has ever been able entirely to suppress, that of 
plundering abandoned houses. The posseasiou 
of a chair, a table, a piece of carpet, an old i-otUe, 
or even a piece of plank, adds so much to the 
comfort of men in camp, that the temptation to 
help themselves to such articles is sometimes 
irresistible. If any luan could have prevented 
plundering, Wellington was that individual ; but 
he could not, though ho possessed ar:J used the 
power to hang offenders on tlio spot.. Subse- 
quent investigation proved that our '.r-.^opa around 
Fortress Monroe plundered little, ounsJ-.;eriug their 
opportunities and their temptation. But that 
little was disgracef\il enougli, and gave rise to 
much clamor. All that any man could have 
done to prevent and punish ottenses of this 
nature was done by the commanding general. 
No man abhorred plundering more than Colonel 
Plielps; but he could not qui:':: prevent it. 
Coming in to dinner one day, he saw upon the 
table a porcelain dish filled v.'iuh green peas. 
Ho stood for a moment with eyes iixed upon the 
suspicious vessel, wrath gathering in his face. 

"Take that dish away," said he iu a tone of 
fierce command for so gentle a man. 

The alarmed contraband preparec' to obey, b>r. 



RECALL FROM VIRGINIA. 



39 



ventured to a.sk: wliat he should do with the 
peas. 

" Put them into awash-basin, if 3'ou cau't find 
anything better. But take that dish away and 
never let me see it again." 

The dish was removed, and Colonel Phelps 
ordered it to be taken to tlie hospital for the use 
of the sick. 

One truth became very clear to General Butler 
while he held command in Virginia. It was, 
that men enlisted for short terms cannot as a 
rule, be relied upon for effective service. When 
the time of the three months men was half 
expired, all other feelings seemed to be merged 
in the longing for release. Like boys at school 
before the holidays, they would cut notches in a 
stick and erase one every day ; and, as the time 
of return home drew nearer, they would cut half 
a notch away at noon. It appeared that short- 
termed troops are efficient for not more than 
half their time of enlistment; after that their 
])earts are at home, not in their duty. The gen- 
eral was of opinion, that an army, if possible, 
should be enlisted not for any definite term, but 
for the war; thus supplying the men with a 
most poweiful motive for efficient action; the 
homeward path lying through victory over the 
enemy. 

The battle of Bull Run ended General Butler's 
hopes of being usefLd at Fortress Monroe. It 
was on the very day of that battle that he first 
received the means of moving a battery of field 
artillery, and of completing his preparations for 
sweeping clear of armed rebels the Virginia 
tip of the peninsula, of which Maryland forms 
the greater part. Colonel Baker was to com- 
mand the expedition.- Two days after the 
retreat came a telegran* from General Scott: 
•' Send to this place without fail, in three days, 
four regiments and a half of long-term volunteers, 
including Baker's regiment and a half." The 
troops were sent, and the expedition was neces- 
sarily abandoned. 

The news of the great defeat created at the 
fortress a degree of consternation almost amount- 
■ng to panic ; for, at »nce, the rumor spread that 
the victorious army were about to descend upon 
xbe fortrses, and overwhelm it. General Butler 
J?us not alarmed at this new phantom. One of 
ti<e first cheering voices that reached the admin- 
--tratiou was his. A few hours after reading the 
news, he wrote to his friend, the postmaster- 
general : 

" We have heard the sad news from Manassas, 
but are neixher dismayed or disheartened. It 
will have the same good effect upon the army in 
general that Big Bethel has had in my division, 
to teach us wlierem we are weak and they are 
strong, and how to apply tlie remedy to our 
deficiencies. Let not the administration be dis- 
heartened or discouraged. Let no compromises 
be made, or wavering be felt. God helping, we 
wUl go through to ultimate assured success. But 
let us have no more of the silk glove in carrying 
on this war. Let these men be considered, what 
they have made themselves ' our enemies,' and 
let their property of all kinds, whenever it can 
be useful to us, be taken on the land where they 
have it, D.a they take ours upon the sea where 
we hare it. There seems to me now but one of 
two ways, either to make an advance from this 
[I'iiice with a sufficient force, or else, leaving a 



simple garrison here, to send six thousand men 
that might bo spared on the other line; or, still 
another, to make a descent upon the southern 
coast. I am ready and desirous to move forward 
in either." 

In another part ofthis letter he strongly recom- 
mends Colonel Phelps for promotion. "Although 
some of the regular officers will, when applied 
to, say that he is not in his right mind — the only 
evidence that I have seen of it, is a deep religious 
enthusiasm upon the subject of slavery, which, 
in my judgment, does not unfit him to tight the 
battles of the North. As I never had seen him 
until he came here, as he differs with me in 
politics, I have no interest in the recommen- 
dation, save a deliberate judgment for the good 
of the cause after two months of trial." He ho.d 
soon after the pleasure of handing to Colonel 
Phelps the shoulder straps of a brigadier-gen- 
eral. 

" I am as much obliged to you, general," said 
he, " as though you had done me a favor." 

The withdrawal of so large a number of his 
best troops, compelled the evacuation of Hamp- 
ton. He was even advised, and that, too, by a 
member of the cabinet, as well as by many 
officers high in rank at the post, to abandon 
Newport News; but he would not let go his 
hold upon a point so important to the future 
movement which he had advised. 

The evacuation of Hampton left homeless 
upon his hand several hundreds of contrabands. 
Again he urged the government to adopt a de- 
cisive policy with regard to the negroes, and to 
take measures for depriving the rebels of their 
slaves, by whose labor they were supported. 
But the government was not prepared to adopt 
the system proposed. 

The southern people, it is worth remarking, 
had already shown their sense of General But- 
ler's services to his country. They knew their 
enemy. It has been their cue to compliment 
some of the generals conspicuous in the service 
of the United States ; but for him who first 
established the rule of employing the courtesies 
which mitigate the horrors of war, they have 
only vituperation. They were right in their 
instinctive perceptions, for he was also the first 
to recognize them as enemies incurable, whoso 
destruction as a power was essential to the re- 
storation of the country. Few readers can have 
forgotten the biography of General Butler which 
circulated in southern nc vvsp&psrs in these 
months. It ran thus ; 

" He is the son of a nef.re barber, who, early 
in the century did busiojs'i on Pcydras street, 
in New Orleans. The ton, in early manhood, 
emigrated to Liberia, where an indisposition for 
labor and some talent turned his attention to 
the bar, to prepare for which he repaired to 
Massachusetts. Having mastered his profession, 
he acquired a fondness for theological studies, 
and became an active local preacher, the course 
of his labors early leading him to New York, 
where he attracted the notice of Mr. Jacob 
Barker, then in the zenith of his fame as a finan- 
cier, and who, discovering the peculiar abilitiea 
in that direction of the young mulatto, sent him 
to northern New York to manage a bankmg 
institution. Tiiere he divided his time between 
the couuting-house and the court-room, the 
prayer-meoting and the nrin ting-office." etc 



40 



EATTERAS. 



This, with a variety of comments, was the 
southern response to Annapolis and Baltimore. 

The North seemed slower to recognize his 
services. After the withdrawal of the four regi- 
ments, he found himself in a false position at 
Fortress Monroe, incapable of acting, yet ex- 
pected by the country to act. His embarrass- 
ment was not diminished by discovering that 
the intention to remove his troops was known 
and published before the battle of Bull Enii, and 
that they were still detained at Baltimore inac- 
tive. 

" As soon," he wrote to Colonel Baker, " as I 
began to look like activitj'-, my troops are all 
taken away. And almost my only IHend and 
counselor, on whose advice I could rely, is taken 
away by name * * * * "What 
ought I to do under these circumstances? I 
ought not to stay here and be thus abused. Tell 
me as a true friend,' as I know yon are, what 
ought to be done in justice to myself To resign, 
when the country needs service, is unpatriotic. 
To hold office which government believes mo 
unfit for, is humiliating. To remain here, dis- 
graced and thwarted by every subordinate who 
is sustained by the head of the department, is 
unbearable." 

The government resolved his doubts. A day 
or two after the reply to General Butler's con- 
traband letter had been dispatched, he was re- 
moved from the command of the department, 
and General Wool appointed in his stead. 
"Whether the two acts had anj^ connection, or 
whether the removal was a compliance with the 
suggestions of a leading newspaper, has not 
been disclosed. "General Wool," commented 
the New York Times, " is assigned the command 
of Fortress Monroe. So far, so good. The 
nation was deeply dissatisfied, not to say indig- 
nant, at the fact that one of the bravest, as well 
as one of the most skillful and experienced of 
American generals, was persistently kept in 
quiet retreat at Troy, N. Y., while political 
brigadiers were fretting away the spirit of the 
army by awkward blunderings upon masked 
batteries." There had, indeed, been much 
clamor of this kind, and worse. One gallant 
colonel, removed from his command for drunk- 
enness, had caused letters to be published, accu- 
eing General Butler of disloyalty. Other officers, 
who had left the service for the service's good, 
were not silent, and one or two reporters, who 
had been ordered away from the post, still had 
the use of tiieu- pens. Nor had the public the 
means of understanding the causes of General 
Butler's inactivity. They saw tiie most im- 
portant military post in th.e possession of the 
United States, apparently well-supplied with 
troops, contributing notiiing to the military 
strength of the country. The blame was nat- 
urally laid at the door of the general command- 
ing it. 

On the eighteenth of August, General Butler 
gracefully resigned the command of the depart- 
ment to his successor. In his farewell order he 
said: " The general takes leave of the command 
of the officers and soldiers of this department 
with the kindest feelings towards all, and with 
the hope that in active service upon the field, 
they may soon signalize their bravery and gal- 
lant ccnduct, as they have siiown thVir patriot- 
ism b^ fortitude under the fatigues of camn duty. 



No personal feeling of regret intrudes itself at 
the change in the command of the department, 
by which our cau.se acquires the services in the 
field of the veteran general commanding, in 
whose abilities, experience, and devotion to the 
flag, the whole country places the most implicit 
reliance, and under whose guidance and com- 
mand all of us, and none more than your late 
commander, are proud to serve." 

He had been in command of the department 
of Virginia two months and twenty-seven days 



CHAPTER VI. 



HATTERAS. 



The order which relieved General Butler from 
command in Virginia assigned him to no other 
dutJ^ He was simply ordered to res^ his com- 
mand to General Wool. Whether he was to re- 
main at the fortress, or repair to head-quarters, 
or go home, was left to conjecture. ^That should 
he do? Where should he go? Friends unanimon.'^- 
ly advised : ' Go home. The governmont plainly 
intimates that it does not want you.' T!ie game 
is lost; throw up your hand. ''No," said he. 
" whatever I do, I can't go home. That were 
the end of my militarj- career, and I am in for 
the war." It ended in his asking General Wool 
for something to do; and General Wool, who 
could not but see what eff).cient service be had 
rendered at the post, and heartily acknowledged 
it, gave him the command of the volunteer troops 
outside tho fortress. So he vacated the mansion 
within the walls, and sers'ed where he hid been 
wont to rule. 

A week after, the expedition to t educe the 
forts at Ilalteras Inlet was on the point of SJiii- 
ing. It was a .scheme of the general's own. A 
Union prisoner being detained at the inlet, had 
brought the requsite information to the fortress 
many weeks before. He said, that through tliat 
gap in the long sand-island which i-uns alone: th<-' 
coast, of North Carolina, numberless blo'^kad.' 
runners found access to the main land, lli^3 re- 
port being duly conveyed to head-quarters, a 
joint expedition, military and naval, was ordered 
to take the forts, destroy them, block up the in- 
let with sunken stone, and return to Fortress 
Monroe. Preparations for this expedition were 
at Cull tide when General Butler was superseded 
Nine hundred troops were detailed to accomp:.ny 
it; a small corps for a major-general. Genera! 
Butler volunteered to command them, and Gen- 
eral Wool accepted his oSor ; ki;id friends whis- 
pering, " infra dig." 

He went. ' Every one remembers the details 
of that first cheering success after the summer of 
our discontent. It seemed to break the spell of 
disaster, and gave encouragement to the country, 
disproportioned to the magnitude of the .lohiovo- 
ment. General Butler enjoyed a share of Uie 
eclat, which restored much o.*" the public favor 
lost at Great Bethel. 

Two points of the general's i".)nduct on tiiis 
occasicm, we may notice before pa.ssing on tr> 
more stirring scenes. The reader hit;-- cot for- 
gotten, that the rebel coiumander first or'eiod t" 
surrender, provided the garrisor were allowed t'- 
retire, and that General Butler refused the terai-t?. 



EECRUITING FOR SPECIAL SERVICIC. 



(ieraanding unconditional surrender. " The Ade- 
laide," he reports, '' on carrying in the troops, at 
the moment my terms of capitulation were under 
consideration by the enemy, had grounded upon 
the bar. * * At the same time, the Harriet 
Lane, in attempting to enter the bar had grounded, 
and remained fast ; both were under the guns of 
the fort. By these accidents, a valuable ship of 
war, and a transport steamer, with a large por- 
tion of my troops, were within the power of the 
enemy. I had demanded the strongest terms, 
which he was considering. He might refuse, 
and seeing our disadvantage, renew the action. 
But I determined to abate not a tittle of what I 
considered to be due to the dignity of the gov- 
ernment ; nor even to give an official title to the 
officer in command of the rebels. Besides, mj' 
tug was in the inlet, and, at least, I could carry 
on the engagement with my two rifled si.K-pound- 
ers, well supplied witii Sawyer's shell." It was 
an anxious moment, but his terms were accepted, 
and the victory was complete. 

One of the guns of the Minnesota was worked 
durintr the action by contrabands from Fortress 
Monroe. The danger was slight, for the ene- 
my's balls fell short. But it wo.s observed f>nd 
freely acknowledged on all hands, that no gun in 
the fleet was more steadily served than theirs, 
and no men more composed than they when the 
danger was supposed to be imminent. In action 
and out of action their conduct was everything 
Uiat could be desired. 

The other matter which demands a word of 
explanation, relates to General Butler's sudden re- 
turn from Hattcras, which elicited sundry satirical 
remarks at the time. He had been ordered not 
to hold but to destroy the port. But on survey- 
ing the position, he was so much impressed with 
the irnjKirtance of retaining it, that he resolved 
to go instantly to Washington and explain his 
views to tiio government. He did so, and the 
government dete/mined to hold the place. Nor 
was luLste unnecessary, since supplies had been 
brought for only live days. The troops must 
have been immediately withdrawn or immedi- 
ately provisioned. 

And now again he was without a command. 
The government did not know what to do with 
him, and he did not know what to do witli him- 
self Recruiting was generally at a stand still, 
and there were no troops in the field that had 
not their full allowance of major-generals. West 
Point influence was in the ascendant, as surely it 
ought to be in time of war ; and this lawyer in 
apaxTlets seemed to be rather in the way than 
■jtherwise. 



CHAPTER VII. 



•r'>(} FOR SPECIAL SERVICK. 



GESERi:, BuTLiR now recalled the attention 
»f the govt-i anient to his scheme for expelling 
i'ebel forces from the Virginia peninsula, which 
had been suspended by the sudden transfer of 
Colonel Baker and his command from Fortress 
Monroe. He obtained authority from the war 
department to recruit troops in Massachusetts 
for this purpose. Recruiting seemed to be pro- 
ceeding somewhat languidly in the state, although 



her quota was yet far from full ; nnd it was sup- 
posed, that General Butler could strike a vein 
of hunker democrats which would yield good 
results. Not that hunker democrats had been 
backward in enlisting; but it was thought that 
many of them who still hesitated would rally to 
the standard of one who had so often led them 
in the mimic war of elections. On going home, 
however, he found that General Sherman was 
before him in special recruiting, and that to him 
Governor Andrew had promised tlie first regi- 
ments that should be completed. He hastened back 
to Washington. He had been engaged to speak 
in Paneuil HaD, but left a note of excuse, ending 
with these words: " That I go for a vigorous 
prosecution of the war is best shown by the fact 
that I am gone." At Washington, a change of 
programme. He penned an order, dated Sept. 
10th, enlarging his sphere of operations to all 
New England, which the secretary of war signed. 
To make assurance doubly sure, he asked the 
additional sanction of the president's signature. 
The cautious president, always punctiliously 
respectful to state authority, first procured by 
telegraph the assent of all the governors of New 
England, and then signed the order. 

It was upon General Butler's return to New 
England to raise these troops, that the collision 
occurred between himself and the governor of 
Massachusetts, which caused so much perplexity 
to all the parties concerne'^. 

Let us draw a veil over these painful scenes. 
A quarrel is divided into two parts. Part first 
embraces all that is said and done while both 
parties keep their temper ; part second, all that 
is said and done after one or both of the parties 
lose it. The first part may be interesting, and 
even important : the second is sound and fury, 
signifying nothing. Governor Andrew felt that 
General Butler was interfering with his prerog- 
ative. General Butler, intent on the work in 
hand, was exasperated at the obstacles thrown 
in his way by Governor Andrew. General 
Butler, who had had bitter experience of sub- 
altern incompetency, was anxious to secure 
commissions tP men in whom he could confide. 
Governor Andrew naturally desired to give com- 
missions to men in whose fitness he couid liimself 
believe. General Butler's friends were chiefly of 
the hunker persuasion ; Governor Andrew was 
better acquainted with gentlemen of his own 
party. Both were honest and zealous servants 
of their country. Long may both of them five 
to serve and honor it. 

The six thousand troops were raised, But the 
delay in Massachusetts deprived General Butler 
of the execution of his peninsula scheme, which 
fell to the lot of General Dix, who weU per- 
formed it in November. So General Butler went 
to Washington to learn what he was to do with, 
his troops, now that he had them. 

For many months the government had been 
silently preparing for the recovery of the southern 
strongholds, which had been seized at the out- 
break of the war, while the last administration 
was holding parley with treason at the capital. 
Commodore Porter was busy at the Booklyn 
Navy Yard with his fleet of bomb-boats. The 
navy had been otherwise strengthened; though 
the day of iron-clads had not yet dawned in 
Hampton {Joads. Immense provision had been 
ordered of the cumbro".^s material used in sieges.. 



42 



RECRUITING FOR SPECIAL SERVICE. 



But as yet, preparations only had been made ; 
the points first to be attempted had not been 
selected ; the chief attention of the government 
being still directed to the increase and organi- 
zation of the army o*" the Potomac, held at 
bay by the phantom of two hundred thousand 
rebels, and endless imaginary masked batteries 
at Manassas. The arrival of General Butler at 
"Washington recalled the consideration of the 
government to more distant enterprises. 

Mobile was then the favorite object, both at 
the head-quarters of the army and at the navy 
department; and General Butler was directed 
to report upon the best rendezvous for an expe- 
dition against Mobile. Maps, charts, gazetteers, 
encyclopedias, and sea captains were zealously 
overhauled. In ?■ day or two, the general was 
ready with his report, which named Ship Island 
as the proper rendezvous for operations against 
any point upon the gulf coa.st. Ship Island it 
should be then. To New England the general 
quickly returned, and started a regiment or two 
for the rendezvous under General Phelps, whose 
services he had especially asked. Then to 
Washington once more, where he found that 
^lobile was not in high favor with the ruling 
member of the cabinet, who thought Texas a 
more immediately important object. It was 
natural that he should so regard it, as he was 
compelled by his office to look at the war in the 
light shed from foreign correspondence. General 
Butler was now ordered to prepare a paper 
upon Texas, and the best mode of reannexing it. 
Nothing loath, he rushed again at the maps and 
.gazetteers, collaring stray Galvestonians by the 
way. An elaborate paper upon Texas was the 
j)rompt result of his labors, a production justly 
complimented by General McClellan for its lucid 
completeness. Texas was in the ascendant. 
Texas should be reannexed; the French kept 
out ; the German cotton plau-ters delivered ; the 
rebels quelled ; the blockading squadron released. 
Homeward sped the General to get more of his 
troops on the way. The Constitution, which had 
conveyed General Phelps to Ship Island and 
returned, was again loaded with .troops. Two 
thousand men were embarked, and the ship was 
on the point of sailing, when a -telegram from 
Washington arrived of singuilar brevity : 

"Don't Sail. Disembark." 

No explanation followed ; nor did General 
Butler wait long for one. The next day he was 
in "Washington, in quest of elucidation. The ex- 
planation was simple. Mason and Slidell were 
in Fort "Warren ; England had demanded their 
■surrender ; war with England was possible, not 
improbable. If war were the issue, the Consti- 
tution would be required, not to convey troops 
to Ship Island, but to bring back those already 
there. 

Nothing remained for General Butler but to 
return home, and wait till the question was 
decided. He went, but not until he had avowed 
his entire conviction that justice and policy 
united in demanding thac the rebel emissaries 
should be retained. He thought that New 
England alone, drained as she was of men, would 
follow him to Canada, that wiuten, with fifty 
thousand troops, and seize the commanding 
points before the April sun had let in the Eng- 
lish navy. The country, he thought, was not 
half awake- -had not put forth half its strength. 



He felt that in such a qu-irrei, uicrica would do 
as Greece had done vriien Xerxes led his myriad 
against her — every man a soldier, and everj 
soldier a hero. He did not despair of seeing, 
first the border states, and then the gulf states, 
lired with ihe old animosity, and joining against 
the heroditiiry foe. Knowing what England had 
done in the way of violating the flag of neutrals, 
he regarded her conduct in this affair as the very 
sublime of impudence. He boiled with indig- 
nation whenever he thought of it, and he Uiought 
of little else during those memorable weeks. 

Fortunately, as most of us think, other counsels 
prevailed at "^Vashington, and a blow was strvick 
at the rebellion, by the surrender of the men, of 
more eflect than the winning of a great battle. 
The restoration of the Union will itself avenge 
the wrong, and cut deeper into the power that 
has misled England than the losa of many 
Canadas. 

Mason and Sfidell were given up. The troops 
sailed for Fortress Monroe. General Butler, 
early in January, 1862, went to "Washington to 
conclude the last arrangements, intending to join 
his command in Hampton Roads. At the war 
department mere confusion roignotl, for this wad 
the time when Mr. Cameron was going out, and 
Mr. Stanton coming in. Nothing could be dene ; 
the troops remained at Fortress Monroe: the 
general was lost to finite view in the mazes of 
Washington. 

"\Ye catch a brief glimpse of him, however, 
testifying before the committee on the conduct 
of the war. No reader can have forgottou that 
the question then agitating the country wa.s, 
why General McClellan, with his army of two 
hundred thousand men, had remained inactive 
for so many months, permitting the olockado of 
the Potomac, and allowing the superb weather 
of November and December to pass unimproved 
into the mud and cold of January. The odtab- 
lished opinion at head-quarters was, that the 
rebel army before Washiiigtcr. numbered alxmt 
two hundred and tbrty thousand men. Upon 
this point General Butler, from much study oi 
the various sources of intbrmatiou, bad arrived 
at an opinion which ditfered from the one in 
vogue, and this he communicated to the com- 
mittee ; and not the opinion only, but the grounds 
of the opinion. lie presented an argument on 
the subject, having thoroughly got up the case 
as he had been wont to do for gentlemen of the 
jury. Subjecting General Beauregard's report ol 
the two actions near Manassas to a minute aur.I- 
ysis, he showed that the rebel army at the battle 
of Bull Run numbered 36,000 men. He cr-jas- 
examined those reports, counting first by regi 
ments, secondly by brigades, and found the re- 
sults of both calculations the same. He ther 
computed the quotas of the various rebel states 
and concluded that the entire Confederate force 
on the day of the battle of P'oll Run V'"'';S about 
54,000. He next considered the iacrefcfio to the 
rebel armies since the battle of Bull K'.ir.. We, 
with our greatly superior raea.-S of transport- 
ation, with our greater population, and the 
command of the ocean, had been able, by the 
most strenuous exertions, to assemble au army 
before Washington of little more than 200,000. 
Could the rebels have got together half that 
number in the same time ? It was not probable, 
it was scarcely possible. Then the extent o'' 



RECRUITING FOR SPECIAL SERVICE. 



45 



covintry held by the rebel army was known, and 
forbade the supposition entertained at head- 
quarters. Upon the whole, he concluded that 
the armies menacing Washington consisted of 
about 70,000 men ; which proved to be within 
5,000 of the truth. 

This opinion was vigorously pooh-poohed in 
in the higher circles of the array, but leading 
members of the committee were evidently con- 
vinced by it. One officer of high rank, a. fre- 
uuenter of the olfiee of the general-in-chief, 
was good enough to say, when General Butler 
had tlnally departed, that he hoped they had now 
"Vjund a hole big enough to bury that Yankee 
-general in. 

During the delay caused by the change in the 
department of war, an dmost incredible incident 
occurred, which strikingly illustrates the confu- 
sion sometimes arising from Lirdng thiee centers 
of military authority — the president, the secre- 
tary of war, and the commajider-iu-ciiief. By 
mere accident G-eneral Butler heard one day that 
his troops had oevu. sent, two weeks before, 
from Fortress lionroe to Port Royal. '•"What!" 
he exclaimed, " liave I been played with all this 
time?" He discovered, upon inquiry, that such 
an order had indeed been issued. He procured 
an interview with Mr. Stanton, gave him a liis- 
tory of his proceedings, and aaked an explana- 
tion of the order. Mr. Stanton knew nothing 
about it ; Mr. Cameron knew nothing about it ; 
General McClelian knew nothing about it. Never- 
theless, the order in question had really been 
sent. Mr. Stanton readily agreed to counter- 
mand the order, provided the troops had not 
already departed. The general hurried to the 
telegraph office, wliere, under a rapid fire of 
messages, a still more wonderlul fact was disclo- 
sed. The mysterious order had been received in 
Baltimore by one of General Dix's aids, who 
had put it into his pocket, forgotten it, and carried 
it about loiih him two lueeks! From the depths 
of his pocket it was finally brought to light. 
The troops were still at the (brtress. 

Mr. Stanton soon made himself felt in the 
dispatch of business. General Butler obraincd 
an ample hearing, and the threads of Lis eater- 
prize were again taken up. One day (about Jan- 
uary 10th), towards the close of a long confer- 
ence between the general and the secretary, Mr. 
Stanton suddenly asked : 

" Why can't New Orleans be taken?" 

The question thrilled General Butler to the 
marrow. 

" It can!" he replied. 

This was the first time New Orleans had been 
mentioned in General Butler's hearing, but by 
no means the first time he had thought of it. 
The secretary told him to prepare a programme; 
and for the third time the general dashed at the 
charts and books. General McClellan, too, was 
requested to present an opinion upon the feasi- 
bility of the enterprise. He re;j;>ii;ed that the 
capture of New Orleans would require an array 
of 50,000 men, and no such numoer could be 
spared Even Texas, he. thought, .should be 
given up for the present. 

But now General Butler, fired with the splen- 
dor and daring of the new project, exerted all 
the tbrces of his nature to win for it the consent 
of the government. He talked New Orleans to 
e,\Qrj member of the f^abiuet. In a nrotracted 



interview with the president, he argued, he 
urged, he entreated, he convinced. Nobly were 
his efibrts seconded by Mr. Fox, the assistant 
secretary of the navy, a native of Lowell, a 
schoolmate of General Butler's. His whole 
heart was in the scheme. The president spoke, 
at length, the decisive word, and the general 
almost reeled from the White House in the in- 
toxication of his relief and joy. One difficulty 
still remained, and that was the tight clutch of 
General McClellan upon the troops. At Ship 
Island there were 2,000 men ; on ship-board 
2,200; ready in New England, 8,500; total, 
12,700. General Butler demanded a total of 
15,000. As the general-in-chief would not hear 
of sparing men from Washington, three of the 
Baltimore regiments were assigned to the expe- 
dition ; and these were the only ones in General 
Butler's division which could be called drilled. 
Not one of his regiments had been in action. 

About January 23d, the last impediment was 
removed, and General Butler went home, for the 
last time, to superintend the embarkation of the 
rest of the New England troops. The troops 
detained so long at Fortress Monroe, were 
hurried on board the Constitution, and started 
for Ship Island. Other transports were rapidly 
procured; other regiments dispatched. A month 
later. General Butler was again in Washington 
to receive the final orders ; the huge steamship 
Mississippi, loaded with his last troops, lying in 
Hampton Roads, waiting only for his coming to 
put to sea. It may interest some readers to 
know, that the total cost of raising the troopa 
and starting them on their voyage, was about a 
million and a half of dollars. 

It was not without apprehensions that General 
Butler approached the capital on this occasion — 
there had been so many changes of programme. 
But all the departments smiled propitiously, 
and the final arrangements were soon completed. 
A professional spy, who had practiced his voca- 
tion in Virginia too long for him to venture 
again within the enemy's lines with much chance 
of getting out again, was on his way to New 
Orleans, having agreed to meet the general at 
Ship Island with a full account of the state of 
afiairs in the crescent city. A thousand dollars 
if he succeeds. The department of the gulf 
was created, and General Butler formally placed 
in command of the same. The following were 
the orders of tlio commaader-in-cbie£ 

" Head-Quartkrs of the Armt, 
"■ February 1M, 1862. 
"Major-General B. F. Butler, United States 

Army: 

"General: — You are assigned to the com- 
mand of the land forces destined to co-operate 
with the navy in the attack upon New Orleans. 
You will use every means to keep the destina- 
tion a profound secret, even from your staff 
officers, with the exception of your chief of 
stafl', and Lieutenant Wietzel, of the engineers. 

" The force at your disposal will consist of the 
first thirteen regiment's named in your memo- 
randum handed to me in person, the Twenty- 
first Indiana, Fourth Wisconsin, and Sixth 
Michigan (old and good regiments from Balti- 
more) — these three regiments will await your 
orders at Fort Monro*?. Two companies of the 
Twenty-first Indiana are well drilled at heavy 



44 



SHIP ISLAND. 



artillery. The cavalry force already en route for 
Ship Island, will be sufficient for your purposes. 
After full consultation with officers well ac- 
quainted with the country in which it is proposed 
to operate, I have arrived at the conclusion 
that three light batteries inWy equipped and one 
without horses, will be all that will be neces- 
sary. 

" This will make your force about 14,400 
infantry, 275 cavalry, 580 artillery, total 15.255 
men. 

"The commanding general of the departaent 
of Key West is authorized to loan you, ^.^^1po- 
rarily, two regiments ; Fort Pickens can pro- 
babl}'- give you another, which will bring your 
force to neariy 18,000. The object of your 
f'xpeditioa is one of vital importance — the cap- 
ture of New Orleans. The route selected is up 
the Mississippi river, and the first obstacle to bo 
encountered, perhaps the only one, is in the 
resistance offered by Ports St. Philip and Jack- 
son. It is expected that the navy can reduce 
the works ; in that case, you wnll, after their 
capture, leave a sufficient garrison in them to 
render them perfectly secure ; and is recom 
mended that en the upward passage a few heavy 
guns and some troops be left at the pilot station, 
at the forks of the river, to cover a retreat in the 
case of a disaster, the troops and guns will of 
course be removed as soon as the forts are 
captured. 

" Should the navy fail to reduce the works, 
you will land your forces and siege train, and 
endeavor to breach the works, silence their fire, 
and carry them by assault. 

" The next resistance will be near the English 
Bend, where there are some earthen batteries ; 
here it may be necessary for you to land your 
troops, to co-operate with the naval attack, 
although it is more than probable that the navy, 
unassisted, can accomplish the result. If these 
works are taken, the city of New Orleans neces- 
sary falls. 

" In that event it will probably be best to 
occupy Algiers witl) the mass of your toops, 
also the eastern bank of the river above the 
city — it may be necessary to place some troops 
in the city to preserve order ; though if there 
appears sufficient Union sentiment to control 
the city, it may be best for purposes of discipline 
to keep your men out of the city. 

" After obtaining possession of New Orleans, 
it will be necessary to reduce all the works 
guarding its approaches from the oast, and par- 
ticularly to gain the Manchac Pass. 

" Baton Rouge, Berwick Bay, and Port Liv- 
ingston will next claim your attention. 

" A feint on Galveston may facilitate the 
objects we have in view. I need not call your 
attention to the necessitj'' of gaining possession 
of all the rolling stock you can, on the different 
railways, and of obtaining control of the roads 
themselves. The occupation of Baton Rouge, 
by a combined naval and land force, should be 
accomplished as soon as possible after you 
have gained New Orleans; then endeavor to 
open your communication with the northern 
column of the Mississippi, always bearing in mind 
the necessity of occupying Jackson, Mississippi, 
as soon as you can safely do so, either aflcr or 
before you have effected the junction. Allow 
nothing to divert you from obtaining full pos- 



session of all the approaches to New Orleans. 
When that object is accomplished to its fullest 
extent, it will be necessary to make a combined 
attack on Mobile, in order to gain possession of 
the harbor and works, as well as to control the 
railway terminus at the cit}'. In regard to thi^ 
I will send more detailed instructions, as the 
operations of the northern column develop tiiem- 
selves. I may simply state that the general 
objects of the expedition are first, the reduction ci 
New Orleans and all its approaches, then Mobile, 
and all its defenses, then Pensacola, Galveston, 
etc. It is probable that by the time New Or- 
leans is reduced, it will be in the power of rhe 
government to re-enforce the land forces suffi- 
ciently to accomplish all these objects ; in the 
meantime j'ou will please give all the assistance 
in your power to the army and navy com- 
manders in your vicinity, never losing sigiit oi 
the fact chat the great object to be achieved is 
the capture and firm retention of New Orleans, 
" Yovy respectfully, your obedient servant, 
"George B. McClellan, 
*' Majo'"- General Commav.ding, &c., dtc.^' 

February 24th was General Butler's last day 
in Washington. 

" Good-by, Mr, President. AVe shall t8k<* 
Now Orleauf, or you'll never see me again." 

Mr. Staut<;n : " Tlie man that takes Nev¥ 
Orleans is made a lieutenant-general." 

Febmary 2oth, at nine in the evening, the 
steamship Mississippi sailed from Hampton 
Roads, with Gerieral Butler and his staff, and 
fourteen hundred troops on board. Mrs. Butler, 
the brave and kind companion of her general in 
all his campaigns hitherto, was still at his side 
on the quarter-deck of the Mississippi. Except 
himself, Major Strong, and Lieutenant Wietzel, 
no man in the ship, and no man on the island 
to which they were bound, knew the object of 
tljo expedition. Articles and maps had appeared 
in tii3 Herald, calculated to lead the onemj- to 
suppono thai New Orleans, if attacked at all, 
would "lie attacked from above, not from the 
gulf. The northern public were completely in 
the dark ; no one even guessed New Orleans. 



CHAPTER VIIL 



SHIP ISLAND. 



Ship Island is a long wave of whitest, finest 
sand, that glisiona in the sun, and drifts before 
the wind like New England snow. It is one of 
four islands tiiat .stretch along ten or twelve 
miles from liie gulf coast, forming Mississippi 
sound. It was to one of these sand islands that 
the British troops repaired after their failure 
before New Orleans iu 1815, where thoy lived 
for several weeks, amusing themselves with 
f:.sliing and play-acting. Ship Island, seven 
miles long and tlu-ee quarters of a mile wide, 
containing two square miles of land — the best 
of the ifciar I'm: a rendezvous — is sixty-five miles 
from New Orleans, ninety-five from the mouths 
of the Mississippi, fifty from Mobile bay, ten 
from the nearest point of the state of Mississippi, 
of which the island is a part. It lies so low 
among the white, tumbling waves, that, when 



SHIP I?I;AND. 



4;=) 



covered with tents, it looked like a camp floating 
upon the sea. Land and water are menacingly 
blended tliere. Numberless porpoises, attracted 
by the refuse of the camps, floundered all around 
the shore, wliich was lined with a living fringe 
of sea-gulls, flapping, plunging, diving and 
screaming. The waves and the wind seemed 
to heave and toss the sand as easily as they did 
the water. In great storms the island changes 
its form ; large portions are severed, others sub- 
merged ; new bays and inlets appear. On land- 
ing, the voyager does not so much feel that he 
iias come on shore as that he has got down over 
the ship's side to the shifting bottom of the sea, 
raised for a momeut by the mighty swell of 
watei-s, threatening again to sink and disappear. 
I'erra jirvM, it is not. 

It was observed that the first aspect of this 
island struck death to the hopes of arriving troops. 
They faintly strove to cheer their spirits with 
jocular allusions to the garden of Eden and to 
Coney Island ; and one of General Phelps's men, 
on looking over the ship's side upon the desolate 
scene of his future home, raised a doleful laugh 
by exclaiming, in the language of Watts: 

" Lord, what a wretched land is this, 
VVliich yields us no supplies I" 

Appearances, however, were deceptive. The 
■wretched land was found to yield abundant sup- 
plies of commodities and conveniences, most 
essential to soldiers. At the western end there 
is a really sm)erior harbor, safe in all winds, ad- 
milting t!ie largest vessels. At the eastern ex- 
treriiity groves of pine and stunted oak have suc- 
ceeded in establishing themselves, and afford 
plenty of wood. For fresh water, it is only 
jieeessary to sink a barrel three feet ; it imme- 
diately tills with rain water, pure from the natural 
ilher of the sand. Oysters of excellent quality 
can be iiad by yaduig for them ; fish abound ; 
and \Lq w.jods, strange to relate, furnished the 
means of raccoon-huntiag. The climate, too, in 
the wint^i' months, is mote enjoyable than New- 
port in midsummer, and the bathing not inferior. 
Neveitlielebs, it must be owned, that with all 
these advantages. Ship Island was never regarded 
by the troops with high favor ; they never re- 
covered from the flrnt; shock of disappointment. 

Before the arriv*i of 'loueral Ph .Ips, in Decem- 
ber, 1861, the isLiud had been the theater of 
many events. The breaking out of the rebellion 
found workmen, in the service of the United 
States, building a fort for the defense of the har- 
bor. They s<,^in abandoned the place, and tlie 
rebels iminediatoiy laiided, burned the houses, 
damaged tiie fort, destroyed the lantern of the 
light-house, and retired. Then the blockading 
squadron appeared, captiu-e*.! many prizes, and 
nearly stopped the coasting trade between Mobile 
and New Orleans. But the coast being clear for 
a few days, a rebel force again landed, and pro- 
ceeded to repair the damage they had done, 
mounting heavy guns upon the fort, and erecting 
extensive works. Commodore McKeau unable to 
reach them with the guns of the Massachusetts. 
In September, alarmed by rumors of a coming 
expedition, the rebels again abandoned the island; 
but, in so doing, were so much acclerated by tlie 
vigQant McKeac, that, though they took their 
guns with them, they lefl the fort standing, and 
'the commoaore captured a vessel laden with tim- 



ber, hewn and cut for th* defensive works. 
From September to December, Commodore 
McKean, with a hundred and seventy sailors and 
marines, under Lieutenant McKean Buchanan, 
had held the harbor, and labored to remount the 
fort, and complete the works begun by the ene- 
my : darting out occasionally, and pouncing upon 
venturesome schooners from Mobile, or blockade- 
runners from Nassau. Five or six prizes were 
there when General Phelps hove in sight, and 
two light-draft steamers among tiiem, invaluable 
for landing troops. 

During the next three months the island pre- 
sented a busy scene. The huge steamer Consti- 
tution landed her little army of troops, sailed, 
and returned with more; General Phelps and 
Commodore McKean striving, meanwhile, to com- 
plete the defenses, and to prepare in all ways for 
coming events, whatever those events might be ; 
neither of them knowing the designs of the gov- 
ernment. General Phelps, a strict disciplinariaa- 
assiduously drilled and reviewed the troops. 

December, January, and February p.assed 
slowly and drearily by. The island was covered 
with troops; the fleet augmented in the harbor. 
The troops beinginconvenientiy crowded. General 
Phelps sent over a party to the main land to see 
if there was room and safety there for a portion 
of his command. A sudden shower of canister 
from a battery near thewharf of Mississippi City 
was interpreted to mean that, though there might 
be room enough, there was not safety. The 
troops, therefore, were obliged to remain cooped 
and huddled together on the small part of the 
island that afforded tolerable camping ground. 
The monotony of their lives, in these forlorn aud 
restricted circumstances, told upon the spirits or 
the men. The resigning fever broke out among 
the officers, and "carried off"" several victims. 
At the end of February, when the last trans- 
ports arrived. General Phelps learned that the 
next arrival would be that of General Butler 
himself, who might be daily expected, and then 
active operations would begin. But the days 
passed on, and no general came. Two large 
steamers were lying in the harbor, at a daily ex- 
pense to the government of three thousand dollars. 
Now, General Phelps is one of those gentlemen 
who take the true view of the public money, re- 
garding it as the most sacred of all money, to be 
expended with the thoughtful economy with 
winch an honest guardian expends the slender 
portion of a girl bequeathed to his care by a 
dying friend. Still unacquainted with the plans 
of the government, hearing, too, that General 
Butler had been lost at sea, the costly presence 
of those steamers distressed his righteous soul ; 
and, at length, he ordered them home. So there 
were ten thousand men, on a strip of sand, on a 
hostile coast, with no great supply of provisions, 
destitute of any adequate means either of getting 
away or of getting supplies. A deep despond- 
ency settled upon the troops as the month of 
March wore on, and they vainly scanned the 
horizon for a smoky harbinger of their expected 
commander. Fears for his safety received mel- 
ancholy armfirrcation, w^hen a vessel pri-ived, 
bringing Brigadier-General Williams from Hatt- 
eras Inlot, for whom the Vlississipi was to have 
called or her way. For a month, General Phelps 
waited for (^.'eral Sutler in painful s'ljpsnse. 
The rumors of disaster to the IWississippi 



46 



SHIP ISLAND. 



were far from groundless. In getting to Ship 
Island, General Butler had almost as many ad- 
ventures as Jason in search of the golden fleece. 
To him, and to his staff, who had already en- 
countered so many obstacles in Massachusetts 
and at Washington, it seemed now as if gods 
and men were contending against their expedi- 
tion. But they were animated with desperate 
resolution, feeling that only some signal achieve- 
ment could vindicate their enterprise, and enable 
them to show themselves again in Massachusetts 
without shame. The general had assumed so 
much of the responsibility of the expedition, had 
borne it along on his own shoulders through so 
many difficulties, against so much opposition or 
lukewarm support, that he felt there were two 
alternatives for him, glorious success or a glori- 
ous death. Xor did he suppose for a moment, 
that the brunt of the affair •would fall upon the 
wooden ships of the navy. He expected power- 
ful aid from the navy, but he took it for granted, 
that the closing and decisive encounter would be 
with the Confederate army on the swamps and 
bayous of the Delta, defended by works supposed 
by the enemy to be impregnable. Storming par- 
ties, scaling ladders, siege guns, headlong as- 
saults into the imminent, deadly breach — these 
were the means by which he supposed the work 
was to be finally done, and this was evidently 
the impression of the secretary of war when he 
spoke of the reward which would be due to the 
man who sliould take New Orleans. 

February 25th, at nine in the evening, the 
Mississippi steamed from Hampton Roads, and 
bore away for Hatteras and General Williams. 
The weather was fine, and the night passed 
pleasantly. The morning broke beautifully upon 
a tranquil sea, and the superb ship bowled along 
before a fair wind. Landsmen began to fear 
that they should complete the voyage without 
having experienced what is so delightful to read 
about in Byron — a storm at sea. But, in the 
afternoon — a change, and such a change. The 
horizon thickened and drew in ; the wind rose ; 
and when, at six o'clock, they were eight miles 
off Hatteras Inlet, there was no getting in that 
night. The ship made for the open sea, and in 
so doing, ran within a few feet of perdition, in 
the form of a shoal, over which the* waves bioke 
into foam. The ship escaped, but not the cap- 
tain's reputation. The general's faith in his cap- 
tain was not entire before this ominous occur- 
rence, but from that moment it was gone, and 
lie left the deck no more while the danger lasted. 
The gale increased as the night came on, until 
at midnight it blew half a hurricane. The 
vessel being short-handed, there was a rumma- 
ging among the sleeping and sea-sick troops for 
sailors ; numbers of whom responded to the call, 
who rendered good service during the night — 
their general awake, ubiquitous. It lulled 
towards morning ; and by noon, the wind had 
ceased. The ship was then so far from Hatteras, 
that it was determined to give up General Wil- 
liams, and make straight for the gulf. " All felt 
relieved," remarks Major Bell in Lis itinerary, 
" and such as had desired to see a storm at sea, 
had had faeir wildest wish fully realized, and 
were satis^ed." 

Again, tlie magnificent ship went prosper- 
ously on her way. The sea-sick struggled on 
deck; xh° disheaHenod were reassured; and 



those who had lost confidence in the captain ha'^ 
had their faith in the general renewed. The 
night was serene; the morning fine. At seven 
the ship was off Cape Fear, going at great 
speed, wind and steam co-operating; land in 
sight ; men in higli spirits over their coffee and 
biscuit. At liah-past eight, when the genera) 
and his staff were at breakfast in the cabin, they 
heard and felt that most terrible of all sounds 
known to .sea-faring men, the harsh grating oi 
the ship's Iceei upon a shoal. Every one started 
to his feet, and hurried to tlie deck. The sky 
was clear, the land was five miles distant, a 
light-house was in sight. The vessel aground 
upon the rocks, but still moved. Her couvsf 
was altered and altered again ; all points cf the 
compass were tried ; but still she touched. 
Boats were lowered, and soundings were taken 
in all iirections, without a practicable channel 
being discovered. 'The captain, amazed and 
confounded, gave the fatal order to let go the 
bow anchor ; and the ship, with three sails set, 
drove upon the fluke, which pierced the forward 
compartment, and the water poured in in a tor- 
rent that baffled the utmost exertions of men 
and pumps. Benjamin Franklin, dead in Christ 
i Church burial-ground at Philadelphia, saved the 
ship from filling; for it was he who tirst learned 
from the Chinese, and suggested to the occi- 
dental world, the expedient of building ship? 
with water-tight compartments. In an hour 
from the first shock, the good steamer Missis- 
sippi was hard and fast upon Fryuig Pan ShoaJU 
one compartment filled to the water iiuo, and 
the forward berths all afloat. There Wds no 
help in the captain ; he was in such a niazo that 
he could not ascertain from his books even the 
state of the tide, whether it was rising or tailing, 
a question upon which the safety of Uie ship de 
pended. 

The general, in effect, took command of tf . 
ship. Major BelJ and Captain R. S. J>a/i?. Iwtb 
volunteer aids, were ordered to loJr into tht. 
captain's library for the hour <;f the • oxt high 
tide. They reported falling water; high tide at 
8 P.M. Signals of tli.Htress were hoisted, gxrns 
were fired, efforts were still made to get the ship 
afloat. Horsemen were dcsciied on the shore, 
and fears were ontertaLDoathut some Contpderato 
vessel, lurking on tlie c-oast, might come out 
and make an easy capture of a defenseless trans- 
port. Amid the manifold perils of the situation, 
the troops behaved with admirable composure, 
and perfect order was maintained without eflbrt 
on the part of the ofliccrs. It could scarcely 
have been otherwise, fcr the men saw during 
that long and anxious day, Mis. iiutler, with her 
attendant, tranquilly hemming streamers on the 
quarter-deck, she not suspecting the essential 
aid she was rendering the offioers in command. 
The men confessed the next day, that nothing 
cheered them so much whiii they were in peril, 
as the sight of Mrs. Butler sitting there, in the 
sight of them all, calmly plying her needle. 
And the danger was indeed most imminent. 
An oi-dinary squaU would have broken up the 
ship ; it would have taken days to laud the men 
in the ship's boats ; and they were upon a hos- 
tile shore. The strain was severest upon the 
nerves of those who were most familiar with a 
coast noted for the suddenness and violence of its 
gales. One man's hair turned white ; one went mad 



SHIP ISLAND. 



47 



Toward noon, a steamer hove in sight ; revi- 
ving hope iu some, quickening the fears of 
others. She approached cautiously, as if doubt- 
Ail of the character of the grounded ship. The 
Union flag was made out flying from her mast- 
head, but still she hung ofi' in the distance sus- 
piciously. General Butler sent Major Bell on 
board, who discovered that she was the gun- 
boat Mount Vernon, Commander 0. S. Glisson, 
of the United States navy, blockading Wilming- 
ton. Captain Glisson, who had, indeed, doubted 
the character of the Mississippi, came on board, 
and placed his vessel at the service of General 
Butler. The sea was still smooth, but tokens of 
change being manifest, it was deemed best to 
transfer Mrs. Butler and her maid to the Mount 
Vernon. A hawser was attached to the Missis- 
sippi, and the gun-boat made many fruitles.s 
attempts -to drag her fj'om ihe shoals. Three 
hundred men were put bn board the M'.iuni 
Vernon ; shells were thrown overboard ; the 
troops ran in masses from bow to Btern, and 
from stern to bow ; the engines worked at full 
speed ; but still she would not budge. As the 
tide rose, the wind and waves rose also ; it be- 
came difficult to transfer the troops; and, soon, 
the huge ship began to roll and strike the rocks 
iiiarmkjgly. The sun went down, and twilight 
was deeporiiiig into darkness, the wind still in- 
creasing. Lut soon atter seven, to the inex- 
pressible relitf of all on board, she moved for- 
ward a few feet, and then surged ahead into 
deeper water, and was .Riioat. The Mount 
Vernon went slowly on to show the way the 
Mississippi following ; the lead continuing for a 
whole Lour to show but six inches of water 
under her keel. The vessel hung down heavily 
by the Lead, the forward compartment Ijeing 
filled, and no one had a sense of safety until, at 
laidnighl, both vossols oitme to archer in the 
1 "ape Fear Ei^er. '-All l)sliaved vroaderMly 
well," Major Bell records. " The resources of 
the general seemed inexhaustible , his seeming 
calmness and his clear judgment, in view of the 
responsibility which the ignorance of the captain 
left upon him were wonderful." 

The next morning, after a survey of the dam- 
aged vessel, it was decided to go on to Port 
Royal for repairs, trusting to the settlfed appear- 
I'jjce of the weather ; the Mount Vernon to ac- 
company. Mrs. Butler and the troops returned 
to the Missis&ippi, except one gentleman, the 
chaplain of a ngiment, who resigned his com- 
mission, and stuck to the vessel that had a com- 
petent captain and no hole in her bottom. Gen- 
eral Butler was ingenious in expedients to check 
the tendency to resign, which is apt to manifest 
tself in certain circumstances ; but he placed no 
obstacle in the way of the chaplain's escape. 
The vessels put to sea in tiie afternoon. The 
next day wa« Sunday, and prayers were said on 
the deck of the Mississippi. The most profound 
solemnity vrevailed in the dense throng of sol- 
diers, who literally watched -Mii prayed; prayed 
to Heaven and watched the weather. In the 
;?.fiteri>oou they were cheered with the sight of 
the gieat fleet blockading Charleston, one of the 
vessels of which took the place of the Mount 
Vernon. At sunset, o:: the second of March, the 
Mississippi and her new conaort, the Matanzas, 
anchored off Hilton Head. 

As no adequate transportation for the troops 



could be Lad at Port Royal, nothing remained 
but to attempt to repair the Mississippi, and this, 
too, in the absence of a dry dock and other 
faciUties for handling so large a vessel. The 
ship was taken to Seabrook Landing, on Shell 
Creek, seven miles from Hilton Head, and the 
men and stores were removed. The naval 
officers on the station. Captain Boggs, Captain 
Renshaw, Captain Boutelle, and others, con- 
ferred with the general, and lent all possible aid 
to the work in hand. Plan after plan was pro 
posed, discussed, rejected. Men and pumps 
strove in vain to clear the compartment of water. 
Twice the leak was plugged from the inside, and 
twice the water burst through again, and des- 
troyed in an liour the work of two days and 
nights. It can be truly averred, that General 
Butler's indomitable resolution and inexhaustible 
ingenuity w"ere the cause of the final success ; 
for long after every one else had despaired, he 
persisted, and still suggested new expedients. 
A sail was at length, with inconceivable difficulty 
and after many disheartening failures, drawn 
over the leak ; the pumps gained upon the water, 
and as tiie head of the vessel rose, the work be- 
came more feasible. When the water had fallen 
below the leak, a few hours of vigorous exertion 
sufficed to stop it, and the naval gentlemen pro- 
nounced the vessel fit for sea. 

The troops were re-embarked, and the luckless 
Mississippi started for the mouth of the harbor. 
The captain, disregarding the advice of the naval 
officers, who were familiar with the soundings, 
ran her aground upon a bed of shells, and there 
she stuck as fast as upon Frying Pan Shoals, 
" It now became painfully evident," remarks 
Major Bell, " that if we ever hoped to get the 
Mississippi to Ship Island by water, we must 
have a new captain." General Butler yielded 
to the universal desire, and to Lis own sense of 
the necessity of the case; he ordered a board 
of inquiry, which reported the captain mcom- 
petent, he deposed him and placed him under 
arrest in his state-room. ■' I am grieved,' be 
wrote to the captain, "to be obliged to this 
action, for our personal relations Lave been of 
the kindest character, and I know yourself will 
beUeve that only the sternest sense of duty 
would compel me to it.' 

Acting-master Sturgis, of the Mount 'Vernon, 
took the vacant place. Under his skillful direc- 
tion, the ship was once more floated, but not till 
the men had been again landed, and all the tugs in 
port had done their utmost. March 13 th, under 
a salute of fifteen guns from the flag-ship, the 
Mississippi put to sea, still accompanied by thtf 
Matanzas with part of the troops on board. 

No more disasters. Seven days of prosperous 
sailing brought them in sight of Ship Island, a 
long camp floating flat upon the gulf. Dismal 
scene ! A gale was blowing as the sLip steamed 
into the harbor, and Luge waves were seen 
rolling up, apparently among tLe tents, and no 
man could tell whicli was water and which was 
land. For two days and more, the gale con- 
tinued, and the men, unable to land, looked out 
upon the island dolefully. It seemed a sorrv 
port to come to after svch a voyage. A gloom 
that some men who were not easily dismayed 
could scarcely endure, mucL less conceal, fell 
upon every Leart. I Lave Leard General Butler 
say, tLat when he saw wLat SLip Island was 



48 



SHIP ISLAND. 



and learned that Geueral Plielps had sent away 
the transports, and thought of the many chances 
there were of the faUue of supphes, and how 
absolutely dependent they all were upon exter- 
nal and distant resources, his heart, for the first 
tiiEe during the war, died within him, and it 
required all the resolution and fortitude he 
aouid command to maintain a decent show of 
Aeerfulness. He was somewhat debilitated too, 
at this time, by a return of the disease con- 
vacted some years before, at the National Hotel 
in Washington. 

On the 25th of March, just thn-ty days from 
Hampton Roads, the troops were landed. There 
being no house on the island, a shanty of 
charred boards, eighteen feet square, was erected 
for the residence of Mrs. Butler, furniture for 
which was opportunely procured from a cap- 
tured vessel. A vast old-fashioned French bed- 
stead half filled the little cabin. 

A closer acquaintance with tlie island did uot 
raise the spirits of the troops. The heat was 
intense. Innumerable were the flies. The 
general discomfort was extreme ; and to add to 
the gloom, phantoms were not wanting. As the 
belief gained ground that New Orleans was the 
object of the expedition, rumors of tire immense 
preparations of the enemy to defend the city 
obtained currency ; the river was lined witlt 
batteries for a hundred miles; "rams" of fearful 
magnitude and power had been constructed ; an 
army of fifty thousand men were in the field. 
And soon after General Butlers arrival, the 
news reached the island, with enormous exagge- 
rations, of the foray of the Merrimac among the 
fleet in Hamptou Roads. Were the iron-clads 
of New Orleans likely to be less formidable ? 
.Had we any Monitors to meet them ? If the 
Wellington heroes under Pakenham could not 
take the city when it was defended by only 
four thousand militia, badly armed, what was 
the prospect now, when all the appliances of 
modern science had been employed, and the 
place was defended by forls, columbiads, cables, 
a whole fleet of Merrimacs, and a large army 7* 

It happened, however, that the men in com- 
mand of the joint expeditiou were peculiarly 
insensible to phantoms. General Butler was at 
once immersed in the details of preparation, and 
rose superior to the prevailing depression. Cap- 
tain Farragut — the immortal Farragut — who had 
arrived within a few days, and taken command 
of the fleet, had all an old sailor's contempt for 
everything that bore the name of ram. From 



• New Orleans newspapers were brought over from 
Biloxi in considerable numbers. Such paragraphs as 
the following were .found in them: "The Mississippi 
is fortified so as to be impassable for any hostile fleet or 
flotilla. Forts Jackson and St. Philip are armed with 
one hundred ami seventy heavy guns (sixty-three 
pounders, rifled by Barkley Britton, and received from 
England.) The navigation of the river is stopped by a 
dam of about a quarter of a mile from the above forts. 
No flotilla on earth would force that dam in less tlian 
two hours, during which it would be within short and 
cross range of one hundred and seventy guns of tlie 
heaviest caliber, many of whicli would be served with 
red-hot shot, numerous furnaces for which have been 
erected in every fort and battery. 

" In a day or two we sliall have ready two iron-ca.sed 
floating batteries. The plate.s are four and a half inches 
thick, of tlie best hammered iron, received fr<>m Eng- 
land and France. Each iron-cased battery will mount 
twenty-six eight pounders, placed so as to skim the 
w&te.r, 4UU striking th* anemy's hull between wind and 



the first, he regarded the naval part of the ens- 
my's preparations as unworthy of serious con- 
sideratiou. Give him, wooden ships. He would 
answer for the rams and iron-clads — floating 
caldrons to boil sailors in. He was for fighting 
on deck, not in the bottom of a tea-kettle. 
Wooden sliips were good enough for Nelson, 
Perry, Lawrence, Decatur ; and they were good 
enough for him. The rebels were heartily wel- 
come to their I'ams and floating batteries, their 
raUroad-ironed steamboats, and their fire-rafts of 
pine knots. 

A few hours after General Butler had landed 
his troops, he was in consultation with Captaii 
Farragut — Captain Bailey of the navy being al«o 
present, as well as Major Strong and Lieutennnt 
Weitzel. The plan of operations then adopted 
was the one which was substantially carried out, 
and which resulted in the capture of the city. 

I. Capt,aiu Porter, with his fleet of twenty-one 
bomb-schooners, should anchor below the two 
ibrts, Jackson and St. Philip, and continue to fire 
upon them until they were reduced, or until his 
ammuuition was nearly exhausted. During the 
bombardment. Captain Farragut's fleet should 
remain out of tire, as a reserve, just below the 
bomb-vessels. The army, or so much of it as 
transportation could be found for, shoiild remain 
nt the mouth of the river, awaiting the issue of 
the bombardment. If Captain Porter succeeded 
in reducing the forls, the army ^vould ascend the 
river and garrison them, it would then be 
apparent, probably, wluit the next movement 
should be. 

II. If the bombardment did not reduce or 
silence the forts, then Captain Farragut with his 
fleet of steamers, would attempt to run by ifaem. 
If he succeeded, he propo.-3ed to clear tho rivor 
of the enemy's fleet, cut oS' the foits &om sup- 
plies, and push on at least far euo'.;gh to recon- 
noiter the next obblniction. 

III. Captain Farragut having pcfisod the fcrts, 
General Butler v/o'ild at once take the troops 
round to the roar o*" Fort St. Philip, land them 
iu the swamps there, and attempt to carry the 
fort by assault. Tlie enemy had made no prep- 
arations to resist an attack from that quarter, 
supposing tl>e swamps impassable. But Lieu- 
tenant Welt/.til, while completing the ibrt, had 
been tor two years in the hubit of duck-shooting 
all over those swamps, and knew every bay and 
bayou of them. He assured General Butler 
that the landing of troops there would be diffi- 
cult, but not impossible ; and hence this part of 



water. "We have an abundant supply of incendiiiry 
shells, cupola furnaces fbr molten iron, congreve rockvta 
and flre-ships. 

" Between New Orleans aiid tho forts there is ?. con- 
stant succession of earthworks. At the Plnir. cf Clial- 
uiette, near Janin's property, there arc redoubt.^, arried 
with rifled cannon, which have been found lo be "'ffeo- 
tive at five miles rarge. A ditch thirty fc^et wMf and 
twenty deep exl nds/i-om the Missi-isipi-i lo L!vCi;)riera. 

'"in Forts St. Piilipand Jackson, there are throe tb&n- 
sand men, of whom a goodly porti-on are ei'poribnced 
artillery-men, and gunners who have served iu the 
navy. 

" At New Orleans itself we have thirly-tvro thousand 
infantry, and as many more quartered in the immediate 
neighborhood. In disciplino and drill they are far 
superior to the Yankees. We liove two very iiblu aw. 
active generals, who possess our entije conflJcnj?.e, 
General Mansfleld Loveli, and Brig:<dior-G*«>enil llu?- 
gles. For commodore, we have oXl IloUins, a Nelsi^n 
ia bis way. — Maw Orlecms Ficayune, April 5th, 1»6'?. 



SHIP ISLAND. 



49 



the scheme. Both in the formation of the plan 
and ill its execution, the local knowledge and 
pre-eminent professional skill of Lieutenant 
Weitzel were of the utmost value. Few men 
contributed more to the reduction of the city 
than he. There are few more valuable officers 
in the service than General Weitzel, as the 
country well knows. 

IV. The forts being reduced, the land and 
naval force would advance towards the cily iu 
the manner that should then seembest. 

This was the plan. The next question was : 
when could they be ready to begin ? Captain 
Farragut said he would sail at once for tlie 
mouths of the river, and thought he could be 
ready to move thence toward the forts in seven 
days. General Butler engaged to have six 
thousand men embarked and prepared in seven 
days. He would fill all the steamers he had, 
and take the remainder of the force in tosv in 
sailing vessels. These arrangements concluded, 
Captain Farragut and the Meet departed, and 
General Butler set to work to do a month's work 
in seven days and nights. 

Re did it. He labored night and day. Having 
no quartermaster, no priceless Captain George, 
who was consigned to Lowell because a senator 
wanted his place for a relative. General, Butler 
was seen on the wharf, blending the quarter- 
master with the major-general, and not disdain- 
ing the duty of the stevedore, when the steve- 
Jore's duty became the vital one. A hundred 
Massachusetts carpenters were detailed to make 
scaling ladders ; a hundred boatmen to help to 
.0 man the thirty boats which were to nose 
their devious way through the reeds, creeks, 
pools and sharks in the rear of Fort St. Philip. 
The troops were fortued into three brigades ; 
the first under General Phelps, the second under 
General Williams, the third under Colonel Shep- \ 
ley, of the Twelfth Maine. The siali' was an- } 
uounced. A court-martial was organized, to : 
bring up arrears of discipline, and a board to j 
examine the new officers. A blast issued from | 
head-quarters against intoxicating drinks, " the 
curse of the army." "Forbidden," added the 
general, "by every regulation, prohibited "by 
official authority, condemned by experience, it 
still clings to the soldier, although more deadly, 
in this climate, than the rifle. All sales, there- 
fore, within this department, will be punished by 
instant expulsion of the party ofleuding, if a 
civilian, or by court-martial if an officer or 
soldier. All intoxicating liquors kept for sale or 
to be used as a beverage, will be seized and 
destroyed, or confiscated to hospital uses." 

On the sixth day, seven regiments and two 
batteries of artillery were embarked, ready to 
sail as soon as the word should come from Cap- 
tain Farragut. But high winds and low tides 
were placing unexpected obstacles in the way of 
the fleet, the larger vessels of which were many 
■days in getting over the bar. General Butler 
was obliged to disembark his troops, and await 
the tardy lightering of the ships into the river. 
A tedious fortnight passed before the fleet was 
ready, the general vibrating between the island 
aiad tlie mouths of the river. 

A romantic incident occurred during this inter- 
val, which led to a variety of curious adventures. 
A mischance of war tossed upon the sand- 
beach of Ship Island, a beautiful little girl, three 



years of age, the child of a New Orleans pbysicau, 
a rebel of noted bitterness. She was voyaging 
in Mississippi Sound with her parents and nurse, 
when the vessel being chased by a gunboat, 
foundered, and all hands took to the boats. Tlie 
little creature was a pet with the sailors : she 
was among them in the forecastle when the ves- 
sel went down, and they took her with them into 
the boat, while the parents and the nurse hurried 
into another boat with the captain and mate. 
The boats were soon separated in the gale, and 
the one containing the child were picked up by 
a cruiser, and brought to Sliip Island. The arri- 
val of the child among the troops, so many of 
whom had left children or little sisters at home, 
excited a degree of interest difficult to conceive. 
She was taken to Mrs. Butlers's shanty, her 
clothes all wet and torn, and there she was pro- 
vided with such clothing as could be hastily 
made, and otherwise provided tor with the ten- 
derest care. But Ship Island in such circum- 
stances was no place tit lor her. She could tell her 
name, and seemed to have a lively sense of hav- 
ing a grandfather in New Orleans, whose name 
she also knew. The general determined to send 
her as far on her way to this grandfather as Ije 
could. Whether her parents had survived the 
storm no one knew. 

A sloop was manned, and Major Strong was 
directed to convey her, under a flag of truce, to 
Biloxi, the nearest point of the opposite shore, 
and place her iu the custody of a magistrate, 
with money to pay her expenses to New Orleans. 
Major Strong performed this congenial duty. He 
found at Biloxi a probate of wills, who was also 
a justice of the peace, to whom he committed the 
child, and gave him a sum of money in gold, suf- 
ficient to defray the cost of her transportation to 
tlie city. In the dusk of the evening, the tide 
having fallen, the sloop started to return, but 
grounded on the bar, a tew hundred yards from 
the shoi'e. Nothing remained but to wait six 
hours ibr the rising of the tide. Soon after dark, 
a boat came off with four men, one of whom 
Major Strong recognized as a persoi* who had 
conversed with him iu a friendly manner on shore. 
This gentlemen warned him that he would be 
attacked by a large force in the course of the 
evening, and advised him to surrender. Scarcely 
believing that men could be found base enough 
to assail a flag of truce on such an errand as his, 
Major Strong nevertheless thought it best to send 
a boat to the nearest cruiser for assistance. He 
had seven men with him. Five of these he sent 
away in the boat, under Captain Conant, leaving 
three men and eight muskets in the sloop. Ma- 
jor Strong was one of those soldiers who know 
nothing about surrendering ; it formed no part of 
his calculations; he had not studied the subject, 
and did not admit it as a branch of the art mili- 
tary. He barricaded the deck of the sloop, put 
his eight muskets into position, and extended a 
stout log of wood over the side to play the part 
of a howitzer. His two men were ordered below, 
having been first instructed in .their role. One 
of the men, Macdouald by name, had brought his 
violin with him, and kept up a lively performance 
in the cabin, of national airs and dancing tunes. 
About nine o'cluck two large boats, filled with 
armed men, were seen approaching from the shore. 
Voices called out : 

" Surrender I Surrender 1 " 



■jO 



SHIP ISLiJN-D. 



Major Strong- replied : "I am here under a flag 
of truce, perlurming an errand of mercj' to one of 
your citizens. If >ou attempt to violate the laws 
of this sacred mission, 1 will blow you with this 
howitzer," laying his hand on the log, "so deep 
into , that jour commander will find it diffi- 
cult to produce you at taps. 

"We'll see about that." returned a voice. 

The boats hauuid oti' as if to consider the mat- 
ter. They soon approached again one on each 
side. 

" Keep those boats on the same side of the 
sloop," shouted the Major, " or I'll sink both of 
you. 

The order was obeyed. The boats came to- 
gether, and loy ofl' at hailing distance. 

" Don't come any nearer," cried Major Strong. 
"if you have anything to say to me, send one 
man." 

A man came wading, and halted a few yards 
from the vessel. 

" How many men hav'e you got there ?"' asked 
Major Strong. 

" Forty," replied the man. " How many have 
you. 

' , " Well, not many, but enough to defend this 
vessel. 

The major was aware that anything like a 
boast of his numbers would confirm the opinion 
of tlie magnanimous foe, that he was in reality 
defenseless. 

While this colloquy was going on, the two 
men in the hold were pertbrming an important 
part. They contrived to make a great deal of 
noise, and Macdonald continued his fiddling, Ma- 
jor Strong frequently calling out : 

" Keep quiet down there, men." " No, don't 
come on deck yet." "All heads below, I say," 
" Major Jones, look to your men there forward, 
and keep those heads below the hatches." "Stop 
tiiat fiddling, Macdonald ; there'll be time enough 
to dance by and by. 

The wading hero returned to the boats, which 
lingered a while, and then, firing a volley at the 
sloop, rapidily disappeared, and were no more 
seen. A gun-boat soon came to the rescue of 
the party, and the facts were duly reported to the 
general in the morning. 

The boiling indignation excited in all minds by 
the dastardly conduct of the Biloxi savages may 
be imagined. The general instantly determined 
to give them a lesson in good manners. At half- 
past two that very afternoon, two gun-boats, the 
Jackson and New London, and the transport 
Lewis, with Colonel Caiull's Ninth Connecticut, 
and Captain Everett's battery on board, sailed 
for Biloxi, for the purpose of conveying that les- 
son to their benighted minds. Major Strong 
comm.anded the expedition, attended by Captain 
Jonas H. French, Lieutenant Turnbull, Captain 
Conant, Lieutenant Kinsman, Captain Davis, 
Captain John Clark, and Lieutenant Biddle. 

Soon after four o'clock, the armed steamers an- 
chored otf Biloxi. and the transport Lewis made 
fast to the wharf. The inhabitants lined the 
beaf>h, and one wild son of Mississippi stood on 
the wharf, rifle in hand, defying the troops to 
come on siiore. The men were marshaled on the 
wharf. Major Strong placed himself at their 
head, and gave the word to advance. The wild 
sou of Mississippi retired. In a few minutes 
Biloxi was surrounded and pervaded by Union 



troops, the people looking sullenly and silently 
on. Biloxi was a watering place in otiier times ; 
the Mississippi cotton-planters' Long Branch, now 
half deserted, dilapidated and forlorn. Major 
Strong found ample quarters in the building 
which had served as a summer hotel. Two 
prisoners were brought iu; one, the valorous 
Mississippian just mentioned : the other a four- 
footed ass. 

" What do you bring that creature here for ? 
asked the commander of the force. 

" Isn't he a Saypoy secessionist ?" replied the 
Irishman who had brought him in. 

" Let him run," said the major. 

"Very well, sir," said the witty O'Dowd, as 
he obej-ed the order. "I think myself we had 
better not touch the privates till we catch the 
commander. 

By the time the surrounding country had been 
well reeonnoitered, night closed in, and fiu'tlier 
proceedings we^e deferred till the morrow. The 
troops slept in and around the town. Not a 
Biloxian was molested, not a house was plun- 
dered or disfigured, not a hen-roost disturbed, 
nor a garden despoiled.' An Irish officer asked 
a group, where the blackguards were who had 
fired into the boat that brought home the infernal 
secessionist's darlin' shipwrecked daughter ; but 
as he elicited no response, the subject wad 
dropped for the night. Indeed, the sad, despair- 
ing expression of every face, the evident pov- 
erty of the people, the many abandoned hoitse% 
and the utter desolation of the scene, seemed to 
disarm the resentment of the troops, and a 
feeling of pity for the " poor devils" arose in its 
stead. The manner in which the caught .Missis- 
sippian devoured his rations, led the men to infer 
that provisions were not abundant in Biloxi ; 
which was found to be true, not of Biloxi only, 
but of all that coast for hundreds of miles. The 
people were intense and vigilant devotees of 
secession, however. The spy who had been 
engaged by General Butler at Washington, six 
weeks before, had accomplished his mission so 
far as to visit New Orleans, and had come to 
Biloxi, designing to steal over to Shij^ Island, 
but he was there suspected, closely watched, 
and finally arrested. He was then in prison at 
New Orleans. Not a scrap of paper was 
found upon him, but he was still detained on 
suspicion. 

At dawn the next morning, Captain Clark and 
Lieutenant Kinsman led a boat chase after a 
schooner laden with molasses ; but wind proving 
a better resource than oars, the schooner escaped. 
As the day advanced, the citizens of Biloxi pre- 
sented themselves at Major Strong's head-quar- 
ters, all avowing themselves secessionists, none 
of them justifying the attack on the sloop. The 
major's orders were to procure a written apology 
from the mayor, and fi-om the commander of the 
Confederate forces, if any such there were. The 
mayor, however, kept out of the way ; and it 
was not till his daughter had been politely con- 
ducted to head-quarters as a hostage for his ap- 
pearauce, that he could be found. He gave the 
written apology required, alleging that the party 
who fired upon the sloop were a mob whicii he- 
had no force to control. At sunset, with the 
band playing and colors flying, Major Strong i^- 
embarked the troops, and the fleet steamed, 
westward for Pass Christian, where a regiraeni 



REDUCTION OP THE FORTS. 



51 



of the enemy was posted, and which the gen- 
eral's orders authorized him to visit. At ten in 
the evening, the steamers anchored off the pass, 
and the troops slept on board. 

Danger was approaching them while they 
slept. The thunder of cannon woke thetn as 
tiie day was dawning ; and before the troops had 
rubbed their eyes open, crasli came a ten-inch 
shot tlirough the transport, perforating the 
steam-pipe, passing through the cabiu-hglits, 
and out through the smoke-stack. In an instant, 
a second shot struck her, whicii carried away 
the cook's galley and part of the wheel-house. 
Three of the enemy's gun-boats, their lights all 
out, had stolen from Lake Borgne upon our little 
squadron, and this was their morning salutation. 
A sliarp action ensued. It was twenty minutes 
before the Lewis could get steam enough to 
move, during which she received three more 
shots, and escaped three. But at length she 
both moved and acted. Fortunately, she had 
been provided with two rifled cannon, which 
were used with so much eflect as to materially 
aid in the repulse of the enemy. The two gun- 
boats plied the foe with shot and shell for more 
than an hour before they thought proper to seek 
safety in the shallows of Lake Borgne. Strange 
to relate, but one man of the Union force was 
vvounded, and he slightly — Captain Conant, of 
the Thirty-First Massachusetts. 

Major Strong executed his purpose. He 
.jded his troops, and took possession of the 
own, a sea-side summer resort, frequented by 
the people of New Orleans. He dashed upon 
the camp of the Confederate regiment, three 
' p-s uistant, and reached it so quickly after the 
»-.j,-.t of the enemy as to find in the colonel's 
tent an unfinished dispatch, and the pen with 
which he was writing it still wet with ink. The 
dispatch was designed to inform General Lovell, 
commanding at New Orleans, of the descent 
upon Biloxi and Pass Christian, and announced 
the colonel's " desire" to attack the Union troops 
" toward evenii/g." The camp was destroyed ; 
the public stores in the town were also seized, 
part of them carried away, and the rest burnt. 

\t Pass Christian, the Union officers had their 
first taste of the quality and humor of the ladies 
of the south-west. 

" A portion of the women," writes an officer, 
" stood their ground ; Mrs. and Miss Lee were 
of this number. Mrs. Lee and her husband 
keep a hotel, which is known as ' Lee's boarding 
house.' It is a snug inn. But Mrs. Lee is a 
tartar. She told Major Strong, that ' Mr. Lee, 
although he kept a hotel, wasof one of the first 
families of Virginia.' 

"'I dare say,' replied the Major; 'there is 
nothing incompatible with great quahties in the 
business he pursues!' 

'• While this parley was going on. Miss Lee 
pushed herself through the front door. She 
pouted as she passed over the portico, pulUng as 
she went an unwilling hood over her handsome 
face, then somewhat disfigured by a frown. 

"After the miniature sea and land fights, the 
officers met again at Lee's boarding house. 
Bread and butter and poor claret, were the sub- 
stance of the repast ; Mrs. Lee and her fire- 
emitting daughter insisting upon occupying 
chairs at the table, while Mr. Lee waited upon 
the guests and drew the corks. The display of 



appetite was good. I think every man ate the 
worth of the gold dollar which he gave Mrs. 
Lee, who carefully folded away the hateful 
Lincoln coin in the corner of h.er dirty r.pron. 
It struck me as queer to see this ' first lady' in 
clothes which soap could have improved." 

Miss Lee could not be appeased. She con- 
tinued to pout and frown, and say rude things to 
the officers in reply to their polite banter, when 
silence or witty retort would have been in bet- 
ter accord with the lofty claims of her family. 

The squadron returned to Ship Island without 
farther adventure. General Butler marked hia 
sense of the excellent conduct of the troops in a 
general order : 

" Of their bravery in the field," he said, "he 
felt assured ; but another quality, more trying to 
the soldier, claims his admiration. After having 
been for months subjected to the privations ne- 
cessarily incident to a camp life upon this island, 
these well-disciplined soldiers, although for many 
hours in full possession of two rebel villages, 
filled with what to tiaem were most desirable 
luxuries, abstaining from the least unauthorized 
interference with private property, and all mo- 
lestation of peaceable citizens. This behavior 
is worthy of all praise. It robs war of half its 
horrors — it teaches our enemies how much they 
have been misinformed bj^ their designing lead- 
ers, as to the character of our soldiers and the 
intention of our government — it gives them a 
lesson and an example in humanity and civiUzed 
warfare, much needed, however httle it may be 
followed. The general commanding commends 
the action of the men of this expedition to every 
soldier in this department. Let it be imitated by 
all in the towns and cities we occupy, a Uving 
witness that the United States soldier fights 
only for the Union, the constitution, and the en- 
forcement of the laws." 

Readers will care to kuow, that the child, the 
unconscious cause of these proceedings, was 
restored to her parents. Her father was seeking 
her at Fort Pickens, under a flag of truce, while 
Major Strong was conveying her to Biloxi. Her 
mother, some weeks later, induced the gentleman 
to call upon General Butler at New Orleans, and 
thank him for his goodness to their offspring. 

April 15th, the welcome word came from 
Captain Farragut, that all his fleet were over the 
bar, and reloaded, and that he hoped, the next 
day, to move up the river to the vicinity of the 
forts. He had made all possible haste ; but the 
dense, continuous fogs, and the extraordinary 
lowness of the water had retarded every move- 
ment. On the 17th, General Butler was at the 
mouths of the river with his six thousand troop.s 
ready to co-operate. If the fleet had been delayed 
a few days longer, General Butler would have 
taken Pensacola, which he learned had been left 
almost defenseless. The naval commander 
vetoed the scheme, not anticipating further delay 
in operating against the forta. 



CHAPTER IX. 

EEDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 

The distance from the mouths of the Missis- 
sippi to New Orleans is one hundred and five 



52 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



miles. The two forts are situated at a beud iii 
the river, seventy-five miles below the cit}^, and 
thirty from the place where the river breaks into 
the passes or mouths. Fort Jackson, on the 
western bank, is hidden from the view of the 
ascending voyager by a strip of dense woods, 
which extends along the bank to a point eight 
miles below it ; but Fort St. Philip, on the eastern 
shore, lies plainly in sight, because it is placed 
in the upper part of the bend, and the ground in 
front is covered only by a thick growth of reeds. 
These forts do not look very formidable to the 
unprofessional eye. They do not stand boldly 
out of the water, presenting great masses of fine 
masonry, like those to which we are accustomed 
in northern seaports. Fort Jackson is but 
tweuty-five feet high, aud St. Philip nineteen; 
and as the ditches and outer works are neatly 
sodded, the passing traveler sees little more than 
extensive slopes of green, close-shaven grass, 
and a low red-brick wall, with many guns 
mounted on it, and several piercing ic. 

But these forts, lying low in the bend of a 
river half a mile wide and running four miles an 
hour, presented an obstacle to an ascending foe 
such as, I believe, no fleet had ever been able to 
overcome. One poor fort at that bend, half 
finished and half manned, had kept a Britisli 
fleet at bay, in 1815, for nine days ; the English 
vainly using the same thirteen-inch bombs which 
were to be employed in 1862. General Jackson's 
"Tom Overton," who commanded Port St. 
Philip on that occasion, was uncle of Thomas 
Overton Moore, governor of Louisiana under 
Jeflerson Davis. It was not till the eighth day 
that Overton could get one bomb in position 
capable of throwiug a shell among the enemy, 
but that one sent them flying down the river — 
two bomb vessels, one brig, one sloop and one 
schooner. A thousand heavy shells had fallen 
about the fort, without impairing its defensive 
power.* But now there were two forts in the 
bend, constructed by professional engineers, at a 
cost of a million and a quarter of dollars. Fort 
Jackson, a five-sided work, of immense strength, 
mounted seventy-four guns, fourteen of which 
were under cover ; and below it was a supplemen- 
tary battery mounting six. Fort St. Philip was 
of inferior strength, mounting fort}' guns ; bat it 
was protected by distance, being a few hundred 
yards higher up the river, and had a strong 
battery on each side of it on the river bank. 
The unmilitary reader does not take the comfort 
which uncle Toby found in such words as bastion, 
glacis, scarp, counterscarp, fosse, covered- way, 
curtain, casemate and barbette. We are in- 
formed, however, that the forts had all these 
things aud more. I have often looked out those 
words in the dictionary, and find the sum total 
of their meaning to be, that the forts, with their 
outer works, pointed one hundred and twenty- 
eight heavy guns upon the river ; that fourteen 
of those guns could be worked under cover, and 
that the batteries were protected by ditches wide 
and deep, by walls of immense strength, by 
bulwarks of earth aud sods, and by enfilading 
howitzers. All had been done for them which 
the skill of Beauregard and Weitzel could ac- 
complish, working with leisurely deliberation, 
and aided by the treasury of the United States. 

* Parton's Life of Jackson, ii. 239. 



What they had left undone, the zeal of the Con- 
federates had supplied during many months of 
preparation. 

Ti}ey were garrisoned, as it appears, by fifteen 
hundred men, commanded by General J. KL 
Duncan, a recreant Pennsylvanian, educated at 
West Point. The commander of St. PhQip was 
Colonel Higgins, once an officer of the army of 
the United States. A large portion of the gar- 
risons were men of northern birth, who had 
been consigned to the forts because their devo- 
tiou to the Confederate cause was considered 
questionable. But experience shows that it is a 
matter of little consequence by what process men 
are got together within the brick walls of a fort 
i or the wooden walls of a ship, provided they are 
i ably, justly, and firmly commanded. "An Eng- 
I lish seventy-four," says Carlyle, " is one of the 
impossiblest entities. A press-gang knocks 
men down in the streets of sea-towns, and drags 
I them on board. If the ship were to be stranded, 
I have heard they would nearly all run ashore 
and desert." Nevertheless, while the ship re- 
mains at sea, they usually do all that the various 
occasions demand. Duncan had a motley, ill- 
clad, discontented, and rather turbulent garrison, 
but they stood manfully to the guns as long as 
standing to the guns could avail. 

The weakness of the forts was the kind of 
guns with which they were armed. " All of 
them," says Lieutenant Weitzel, " were the old 
smooth-bore guns picked up at the differfc. 
works around the city, with the exception o*" 
about six ten-inch columbiads, and two one 
hundred pound rifled guns of their own manu 
facture, a formidable kind of gun." Ha 
the opinion that if the forts had been pro.— .,_ 
with a full complement of the best modern artil- 
lery, they could not have been reduced or passed 
by wooden ships. 

It was not, however, upon the forts that the 
enemy wholly relied. Across the river, from a 
point just below Fort Jackson, a cable was 
stretched, upon which the enemy had expended 
prodigious labor. They had first supported it 
by heavy logs thirty feet long attached to seven 
large anchors. But this cable caught the floating 
trees and timber which, in a few weeks, formed 
a heaped-up, Red-river raft, extending half a 
mile above the cable. The chain broke at length, 
and the whole structure, cable, logs, anchor, 
buoys, and trees, were swept down by the cur- 
rent toward the gulf. A lighter cable was then 
procured from the stores at Pensacola. Seven 
or eight schooners, dismasted and filled with 
logs, were strongly anchored in a row acro.ss the 
river, and the chain was laid across each of tbem 
and securely fastened round the capstan. At 
the end of the cable, on the shore opposite Fort 
Jackson, a mud battery was built to drive ofl' 
parties attempting to sever the barrier. Under 
this cable the floating timber freely passed ; and 
there was an ingenious contrivance near the 
fort, by which the vessels of the foe were quickly 
admitted and the aperture quickly closed. 

Tliis cable, because of itssignal failure as a 
means of defense, has been too lightly regarded. 
It might have been a formidable obstacle. Our 
naval oEBcers think that if it had been placed just 
above St. Phihp, instead of just below Fort Jack- 
son, it could scarcely have been cut ; because, in 
that case, the party attempting it would have 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



53 



had to ran the gauntlet of a hundred guns, 
against a rapid current, remain under the fire of 
most of them during the operation, and then de- 
scend two miles under the same fire before reach- 
ing the fleet. Placed were it was, however, 
there was reason to hope that a party could steal 
silently upon it in the darkness of a foggy night, 
and work upon it for a considerable time before 
being discovered : and even if discovered, the 
night fire of heavy guns might be borne long 
enough to effect the object ; particularly as the 
supporting hulks would afford cover for the 
boats. The cable was not ill-planned but wrong- 
ly placed. • 

Another error appears to have been committed 
by the enemy, in not cutting away more of the 
woods below Fort Jackson. They removed 
enough to enable them to bring their guns to 
bear upon the channel of the river, but left 
enough for Captain Porter to string his bomb- 
schooners behind along the western shore, 
around the bend, completely out of sight. Ho 
had no need to see his object, for his bombs were 
purposely set to throw the shells high into the 
air and down upon the forts hke falling meteors ; 
but theii- guns were designed to be sighted and 
aimed at a visible mark. The forts were sta- 
tionary, and their exact position was known ; 
the schooners were movable, and could only be 
hit by chance, unless they could be seen. 

Besides the forts and the cable, the enemj' had 
a fleet of fourteen or fifteen gun-boats, several of 
which were iron-clad. No one has thought it 
worth while to draw up a descriptive catalogue 
of these vessels, and none of them ventured far 
below the cable after Captain Farragut had got 
his fleet into the river. The sudden collapse and 
total destruction of most of them in the haze and 
darkness of an April morning, deprived our men 
of an opportunity of studying their construction. 
The greater number were probably river steam- 
boats, strengthened and armed. " The celebrated 
ram Manassas " resembled the Merrimac in ap- 
pearance, but was not a Merrimac in power or 
strength. One real Merrimac dashing down 
headlong among our wooden ships, might have 
given them some damaging blows — might have 
driven them out of the river; but the builders of 
" the celebrated ram Manassas " had not a steam 
frigate to serve as the basis of theu' structure, 
and they knew her too well to trust her among 
Captain Farragut's steamers. There was also a 
huge thing called ^jge Louisiana, built upon the 
hull of a dry dock, propelled by four engines, 
and armed with sixteen heavy guns. This pon- 
derous engine of war, was a main reliance of the 
enemy, but it was not finished in time to join in 
the fray. Fire-rafLs and long river-scows filled 
■with pine knots had been prepared in consider- 
able numbers for the entertainment of the attack- 
ing fleet. 

In the swamps, a mile and a half from Fort 
Jackson, two hundred "sharp-shooters" were 
stationed, whose chief employment was to scout 
along the banks of the river and overhear 
conversation in the fleet. It may have been 
these men who conveyed to General Duncan the 
most prompt and accurate information of every 
movement of our ships, and every scheme of 
movement. Such information we know that he 
had. The camp of the scouting sharpshooters 
was not undisturbed during the operations, and 



many of them deserted : but, probably, enough 
of them remained to catch the talk of the sailors 
plying their bombs a few yards from the shore. 

The confidence of the enemy in their ability to 
defend the forts against any possible force — 
against " the navies of the world " — was com- 
plete. It was long before General Duncan and 
Colonel Higgins believed that the fleet would do 
more than reconnoiter the position, or, perhaps, 
transfer the blockading station to the head of the 
passes. This of itself would have been an 
advantage worth considerable outlay. But their 
position they firmly believed was impregnable ; 
and, perhaps, it was impregnable. Certain it is 
that the forts were never taken. 

For the reduction of these forts, thus defended 
and supported, there was then in the Mississippi 
the most powerful expedition that had ever 
sailed under the flag of the United States. The 
strength and composition of the army we have 
seen ; it consisted of fifteen thousand troops, 
most of them men of New England, fully provi- 
ded with the means of offensive war, and led by 
a general endowed by nature with the abiUty to 
command, and trained by education to assume 
responsibilities and invent expedients. The fleet 
consisted of forty-seven armed vessels, of which 
eight were large and powerful sloops of war 
propelled by steam ; seventeen were steam gun- 
boats, most of them new, and all heavily armed ; 
two were sailing vessels, rankhig as sloops of 
war; and twenty-one were mortar schooners, 
each provided with a bomb capable of throwing 
a shell weighing two hundred and fifteen pounds 
to a distance of three miles. The steam sloops 
carried from nine to twenty -eight guns each ; the 
the gun-boats five or six guns each. The whole 
numbei- of guns and mortars was about three 
hundred and ten ; many of the heaviest caliber, 
and of the newest construction. 

The fleet had been provided with everything 
which naval men could suggest as likely to 
increase its efficiency. We have heard a great 
deal concerning the imaginary somnolence of the 
heads of the navy department. I suppose this 
has been because the navy department has been 
conducted with such consummate energy and 
tact, and with a wonderful uniformity of triumph. 
We can not praise enough our generals who 
have failed, nor censure with too much severity 
a department which has known little but success. 
Both in fitting out this expedition and in select- 
ing the men to command it. the department dis- 
played a foresight and ability that proved suffi- 
cient in the day of trial. There were only two 
mishaps : a delay in the arrival of the medical 
stores, and a scant supply of coal, owing to the 
month's detention in getting the ships over the 
bar. But General Butler, through the wise 
abundance provided by Captain George, was 
able to lend Captain Farragut a competent sup- 
ply of surgeons' stores and a tliousand tons of 
coal. 

The men in chief command of the fleet had 
spent their lives in the navy. Of the sixty-three 
years that Captain Farragut had lived, he had 
been fifty-two an officer in the navy of the 
United States. He was a boj' midshipman a3 
far back as the war of 1812, not undistinguished 
then in at least one bloody sea-fight. Though ad- 
vanced in years, his heart was young, his frame 
light and active,- his face and bearing those of .■» 



54 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



man of middle age. " He was the youngest 
man iu the fleet," says General Butler; alert in 
chmbing to the mast-head, quick in getting into 
his boat, capable of long-continued, severe ex- 
ertion. A mode.st, quiet man, doing his duty 
with the minimum of show and fuss, using sim- 
ple words, preferring simple topics. Above all, 
he has a firm, brave, honest heart, that can not 
be dismayed by phantoms, and Ivuows no fear, 
except the noble dread, lest, in any way, through 
fault of his, the fleet intrusted to his care should 
disappoint the reasonable expectations of the 
country. The language of eulogy is so lavishlj- 
employed in these times, that it has acquired an 
opprobrious quality. But these things are 
literally true of this noble and valiant Tennesse- 
an. The country knows what he has done ; but 
his modest worth, his utter sincerity, his entire 
and single-eyed devotion to liis duty ; of these 
there will be much to tell, when tlie final record 
is made up. It is pleasing to notice in the pa- 
pers relating to the expedition, how perfect was 
the accord between the commander of the fleet, 
and the commander of the army. Whatever 
either could do, during their long connection, to 
forward the plans, or enhance the glory of the 
other, was done with generous promptitude and 
fullness. 

The month of delay at the mouth of the river 
had been well spent. Assistant-engineer Hoyt, 
of the Richmond, conceived the happy idea of 
protecting the boiler and engine of his ship by 
an extemporized armor of chain-cable, hung 
down from the gun-deck to below the water- 
line, and fastened by an ingenious system of 
bolts and cordage. The engineers of the Brook- 
lyn, Pensacola and Iroquois employed the same 
contrivance, which was supposed to be equiva- 
lent to a four-inch plating of iron. The boilers 
of other vessels were protected by an interior 
structure of sand-bags, layers of cable, bales of 
bagging, and logs. Howitzers were placed in 
the tops of all the sloops, protected by plates of 
boiler iron, or thick screens of cordage. Some 
of the vessels had small anchors at their yard- 
arms, to drop down upon the enemy's gun-boats 
and fire-rafts, and grapple them. Strong net- 
tings of cordage were drawn under the rigging, 
to prevent the cannon-balls, which might be 
stopped aloft, from dropping on deck. All the 
bomb-schooners, and several of the gun-boats 
and sloops received a coat of mud-colored paint. 
Last of all, to the masts of the greater number 
of the bomb-vessels were fastened large branches 
of trees, which, mingling with the tree-tops of 
the sheltering forest, would still more completely 
conceal them from the enemy. A few of these 
vessels, which were designed to be stationed in 
full view of Fort St. Phillip, were covered with 
a coating of the reeds which grew on the marshy 
level in front of the fort. All hands, under the 
direction of the engineers, labored incessantly to 
increase the offensive and defensive power of the 
fleet; and it was to this month's preliminarj^ 
work that the success of the expedition was 
chiefly owing. Not one precaution too many 
was taken; every expedient was justified by iis 
manifest utility in the hour of trial. The ab- 
sence of the ciiain-plating from the sides of the 
flag-ship proved the value of that mode of pro- 
tection ; for, at a critical moment, the want of it 
nearly lost the ship. 



Meanwhile, the gentlemen of the coast-survey, 
under Mr. F. H. Gerdes, speci.'iUy detailed by 
Professor Bache for the purpose, were busy in 
preparing a chart for the guidance of Captain 
Porter in stationing his bomb-vesseis. This was 
an indispensable preliminary, since nearly every 
bomb was expected to be discharged upon a 
computed aim. The map was completed in five 
days, but not without diflicully and danger. 
"Frequently," says Mr. Gerdes, "the members 
of the party were compelled to mount their in- 
struments on the chimney-tops of dilapidated 
houses. In other places boats were run under 
overhanging trees on the shore, iopwhich signal- 
flags were hoisted, and the angles measured be- 
low with sextants. It was very satisfactory, 
however, that the last measurement determined 
(leading to the flag-staff on St. Philip) agreed 
almost identically with the location given by the 
coast-survey several years ago. It seemed to 
be a regular occupation of the garrison in the 
fort, to destroy, during the night-time, the marks 
and signals which were left daily by the party ; 
and for this reason, Mr. Gerdes caused numbered 
posts to be set in the river banks, and screened 
with grass and reeds so that they could 'not be 
found b}' the enemy in the dark. From these 
marks, which were separately determined, he 
was enabled to furnish to Captain Porter the 
distances and bearings from almost any point OQ 
the river to the forts, and by the resulting data 
the commander selected the positions for his 
mortar-vessels. * * * Twice Captain Por- 
ter ordered some of the vessels to change their 
po.sitious when he found localities that would 
answer better ; the coast-survey party furnished 
the new data required. From the schooners, 
which were fastened to the trees .on the river- 
side, none of the works of the enemy were visi- 
ble, but the exact station of each vessel, and its 
distance and bearings from the forts, had been 
ascertained from the chart. The mortars were 
accordingly charged and pointed, and the fuses 
regulated. Thus the bombardment was con- 
ducted entirely upon theoretical principles, and 
as such, with its results, fjresents perhaps a new 
feature in naval warfare." * 

The position of the enemy had been repeat- 
edly reconnoitered. As early as Marcii'28th, 
Captain Bell, in the gun-boat Kennebec, had run 
up near enough to inspect the cable, and to dis- 
cover the out-lying batteries, and to draw a 
thundering fire from both forts. On the 6th oi 
April, Captain Farragut himself had a peep at 
them. Captain Bell showing tlie way. " About 
noon," says one wlio accompanied, " we came iu 
sight of the two forts, which could be seen 
through the glass to be thronged with rebel offi- 
cers watching our movements. As we came 
within range, a white puff of smoke floated up- 
ward from Fort Jackson, and a hundred-pound 
rifle shell screeched through the air, striking 
the water and exploding only about a hundred 
yards in advance of us. Flag-Ofiicer Farragut 
and Flag-Captain Bell had meanwhile gone aloft, 
where they sat iu the cross-trees taking observa- 
tions. There was another white puff of smoke, 
and another monster shot came screeching 
toward us. This passed perhaps fifty feet over 
the heads of the Reutlemen alolt, and struck th 



* Continental Monthly, May, ^tk 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



--,T,ter two-thirds acioss Ihe river. 'Back her,' 
from aloft, and we drift down the river two or 
three ships' lengths, and only just in time, a 
third furious shell strikino; and bursting in the 
water just at the point we had a moment before 
left. A low murmur of applause at th.is renjark- 
ably excellent gunnery is drawn from our men 
as we steam slowly up again. Another shot 
falls short, another bur.^ts prematurely (this one 
from a forty-two-pound smooth-bore), when 
' whiz-z-z-z,' with a fearful sound, a hundred- 
pound shell passes low down, between our 
smoke-stack and mainmast, the wind of its swift 
passage actually rocking one of the ship's boats 
hanging on the side." * 

A third reconnoisance was more cheering, 
since it revealed the eneraj' employed in repair- 
rag the cable damaged by the rush of a sudden 
rise of the river. The sailors of the fleet held 
the cable in much contempt. 

The last day of preparation is usuallj'' the 
busiest. It was the 17lh of April. The fleet 
had all reached the vicinity of tlie forts on the 
evening previous, and the dawn of the 17th 
found the vessels anchored in a tempting huddle 
four miles below Fort Jackson. The rebels be- 
gan the fight. As the sun was rising, a flat- 
boat piled with wood saturated with tar and 
turpentine, was fired by them and cut adrift. A 
fresh wind was blowing up the river, and the 
descent of this magnificent bonfire was slow. 
Nevertheless, it came, at length, roaring and 
blazing by, causing a sudden slipping of cables 
and a general anxiety to get out of the way. 
As it was supposed to contain something of the 
torpedo kind, the Mississippi fired a few shells 
into it without effect. A boat from the Iroquois 
soon tackled the monster, and, fixing three grap- 
pling-irons in the leeward end, towed it ashore, 
where it burned itself harmlessly away. The 
work of preparation then proceeded. The dress- 
ing of the masts of the mortar-boats was com- 
pleted, and they looked as if prepared for a 
festival instead of a bombardment. In the after- 
noon, some of the mortars were towed into posi- 
tion and fired a few experimental shells, frag- 
ments of which were exliibited the next day at 
]S"ew Orleaas. Preparations were made by Cap- 
tain Porter for the proper reception of fire-rafts, 
in case the enemy should again employ them. 
All the boats of the mortar-fleet were ordered to 
be provided with axes, ropes, and grappling- 
hooks ; and early in the evening, the boats were 
reviewed, furnishing a pretty spectacle to the 
rest of the fleet ; nay, a pair of spectacles. 

"The boats pulled round the Harriet Lane, 
the flag-ship of Captain Porter, in single line, 
each officer in charge being questioned as be 
passed, by Commodore Porter, as follows: 'Eire 
buckets ? axes ? rope ?' A responsive ' Ay, ay, 
sir.' and the commodore directed — 'Pull around 
the Mississippi and return to your vessels.' The 
Mis,si3sippi being a quarter of a mile ahead, the 
men gave way sturdily, in order to beat the rival 
boats. There were not less than one hundred 
and fifty boats under review, many of them ten- 
oared, and the whole scene reminded me more 
of a grand regatta than of anything else. 

" An hour after the review, the men had an 
opporrunity to test, in a practical manner, their 

* Correspondence of New York Herald, May, 1862. 



moans for destroying fire-rafts, and they proved 
be an admirable success. A turgid column of 
black smoke, arising from resinous wood, was? 
seen approaching us from the vicinity of the 
forts. Signal lights were made, the varied colors 
of which produced a beautiful cifect upon the 
filiage of the river bank, and rendered the dark- 
ness inienser by contrast wlien they disappeared ; 
instantl}' a hundred boats shot out towards the 
raft, which was now blazing fiercely and castuig 
a wide zone of light upon the water. Two or 
three of the gun-boats then got under way and 
steamed boldly toward the unknown thing of 
terror. One of them, the Westfield, Captain 
Renshaw, gallantly opens her steam-valves, and 
dashes furiously upon it, making sparks fly and 
timbers crash with the force of her blow. Then 
a stream of water from her hose plays upon the 
blazing mass. Now the small boats lay along- 
side, coming up helter-skelter, and actively em- 
ploying their men. We see everything dis- 
tinctly in the broad glare — men, oars, boats, 
buckets and ropes. The scene looks phantom- 
like, supernatural, intensely interesting, inex- 
tricably confused. But finally the object is nobly 
accomplished. The raft, yet fiercely burning, is 
taken out of range of the anchored vessels and 
towed ashore, where it is slowly consumed. As 
the boats return they are cheered by the fleet, 
and the scene changes to one of darkness and 
repose, broken occasionally by the grufl' hail of 
a seaman, when a boat, sent on business from 
one vessel to another, passes through the 
fleet."* 

The next morning the bombardment began. 
At daylight, each of tlie small steamers attached 
to the mortar fleet took four of the schooners in 
tow, and drew them slowly up the river, the 
bright green foliage waving above their masts. 
Fourteen of them were ranged in line, close 
together, along the western shore, behind the 
forest ; the one in advance being a mile and 
three-quarters below Fort Jackson. Six were 
stationed near the eastern bank, in full view of 
both forts, two miles and three-quarters from St. 
Philip. The orders were to concentrate the fire 
upon Fort Jackson, the nearest to both divisions ; 
since if that were reduced St. Philip must ne- 
cessarily yield. At nine, before all the mortar 
vessels were in position. Fort Jackson began the 
conflict, the balls plunging into the water a 
hundred yards too short. The gun-boat Owasco, 
which had steamed up ahead of the schooners, 
was the first to reply. In a few minutes, how- 
ever, the deep thunder of the first bomb struck 
into the overture, and a huge black ball, two 
hundred and fifteen pounds of iron and gun- 
powder, whirled aloft, a mile in the air, with the 
" roar of ten thousand humming tops," and curv- 
ed with majestic slowness down into the swamp 
near the fort, exploding with a dull, heavy 
sound. The mortar men were in no haste. For 
the first half hour, they fired very slowly, while 
Captain Porter was observing the effect of the 
tire . and giving new directions respecting the 
elevations^ the length of fuse, and the weight of 
the charge of powder. The calculations were 
made with such nicety that the changes in the 
weight of the charge were made by single 



* Correspondence of the New York Daily Times, 
May S, 1S62. 



56 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



ounces, when the whole charge was nearly 
twenty pounds. The enemy, too, flred slowly 
and badly during the first half-hour. By ten 
o'clock, however, both sides had ceased to ex- 
periment, and had begun to work. 

The scene at this time was in the highest de- 
gree exciting and picturesque. The rigging of 
the Union fleet, just below the mortar-vessels, 
was filled witli spectators, from rail to mast- 
head, who watched with breathless eagerness 
the rise and descent of every shell, and burst 
into the heartiest cheers when a good shot was 
made. Four or five of the gun-boats were 
moving about in the middle of the river, between 
the two divisions of mortars, keeping up a 
vigorous fire upon the nearer batteries. Both 
forts were firing steadily and well, their shots 
splashing water over the mortar-vessels on the 
eastern side, and throwing up the soft soil of tlie 
bank high over the masts of those on tJie west- 
ern. It is wonderful how many splendid shots 
may be made at a distant object without one 
hitting it. The balls fell all around the mortar- 
boats all day, and only two of them were struck, 
and they not seriously injured. Not a man was 
hurt in the mortar-fleet the first day, except 
those who were sickened by the tremendous 
concussion which followed every discharge. The 
men stood on tip-toe and witli open mouths to 
lessen the efi'ect of the stunning sound. But 
men can get used to anytiiing. They came at 
length to be able to sleep upon the deck of the 
mortar-boats, while the bombs were going oft' 
at the rate of two in a minute. It was exhaust- 
ing work handling those huge globes of iron ; 
and the men, too tired to go below, would lie 
down along the forecastle, fall instantly asleep, 
and never stir till they were called to duty 
again. 

Men can bear what no other creatures can. 
As the firing grew hotter, the very bees in the 
woods could not endure it, but came in swarms 
over the river, and buzzed about the ears of the 
men in the rigging of the fleet. It was too 
much even for the fish in the river ; large quan- 
tities of dead fish floated past, killed by the 
close thunder of the guns. Those who looked 
over the side at this new wonder did not see 
any of those sealed bottles of news go bobbing 
by, which the Union men in the forts afterward 
said they had sent down the river. 

"When the fire had lasted an hour and a half, 
the scene was enlivened by a new feature. 
" Over the woods, beyond the Ibrts," says a 
highly competent witness, '• we can count seven 
or eight moving columns of smoke, which indi- 
cate that the rebel steamers are passing about, 
probably plotting some misciiief against us. 
Soon one, and then another, and afterwards a 
third, api^ear in view, steering toward the forts. 
Before reaching them, however, the steamers 
dash to cover again, and we see that three huge 
burning rafts have been set adrift. Tlie swift 
current sweeps them toward us ; below they are 
a brilliant blaze, and rising from the flames is a 
spiral, funnel-sliaped cloud of grayjsh black 
smoke, so dense as to shut from sigh't the fort 
and all else in that direction. Nearer and nearer 
these seemingly formidable rafts approach, but 
they occasion very little anxiety. We know 
how to dispose of them. Tlio sailors from the 
brge ships are called out of the rigging, which 



they have been permitted to occupy as interested 
spectators of the battle, and in a sliort time 
boats have the rafts in tow, and they are lauded 
on the river bank to burn away. We all confess 
to an admiration of these pyrotechnic disphys. 
They add vastly to the picturesqueness of our 
surroundings, and are perfectly harmless. The 
brave fellows on the schooners did not relax 
their fire during this exciting interlude."* 

The day wore on. Noon came and passed. 
The charm of novelty subsided. At four, Gen- 
eral Butler's little steamer, Saxon, arrived, with 
the news that the general and his troops were 
below, and ready, and that the Monitor had sunk 
the Merrimac. Captain Farragut telegraphed 
tlie tidings to the fleet. It had a wonderfully 
inspiriting effect. 

An hour later, the fleet was further cheered 
by witnessing an indication that the fire had not 
been ineffectual. Flames were seen bursting 
from Fort Jackson, and the fire of its guns 
slackened. It soon became evident that the cit- 
adel and the woodeu barracks within the fort 
were on fire, as the barracks of Fort Sumter had ' 
been, when it was defended by Major Anderson. 
Both forts ceased firing, and all the evening, till 
two o'clock the next morning, a magnificent 
conflagration illumined the scene. At half-past 
six, Captain Porter gave the signal to cease 
firing, and the night passed in silence. After 
dark, he withdrew the six schooners from their 
exposed situation on the eastern shore, and sta- 
tioned them in the line upon the western side of 
the river. This appears to have been an e.'ccess 
of caution, for the most effective sliots made 
during the bombardment came from that division, 
and none of the vessels had been disabled. It 
is not improbable that the bombardment might 
have silenced the fort, if that division had been 
doubled instead of removed. Its transfer to the 
shelter of the forest on the western shore, was a 
great relief to the enemy. 

The ne.xt morning disappointed tho.se who 
had indulged hopes from the burniug of the 
wooden barracks. Fort Jackson was prompt 
and vigorous in responding to the fire of the 
mortars. At half-past eleven, a lifle ball crushed 
completely through one of the bomb schooners, 
and sunk her in twenty minutes, but harming no 
man. The Oneida, Captain Lee, was twice hit 
in the afternoon, as she was steaming about in 
advance; two gun-carriages were knocked to 
pieces, and nine men wounded. The fort, too, 
suffered so much, that its fire sensibly slackened 
long before the day closed. One shell bursting 
in the levee had flooded the interior of the fort 
with water. Another broke into the officers' 
mess-room while they were at dinner, and the 
i]gly thing lay smoking on the ground between 
them and the only door. They sprang away 
from it into the farthest corner of the apartment, 
and remained clutched together in awful sus- 
pense for half a minute, when the fuso went out 
without exploding the shell. Often, when a 
shell sank twenty feet into tue miry delta near 
the walls, and exploding there, th.rew a vvhole 
eruption of black mud into the air, the fort 
seemed to shake to its foundations, and to 
threaten the total submersion of the garrison 
deep in the black bowels of the earth. The 



* J/ew Yof-k Ttims, May 8th, 18&il 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



57 



men, however, were surprising;!)' cool after the 
first day. They discovered that the bombs were 
terrible chiefly to the nerves and the imagination ; 
they could see them coming and get out of the 
way ; and beyond dismounting a gun now and 
then, the shells did no essential harm — no harm 
which impaired the defensive power of the fort. 
The soft, earth of the delta is easily stirred and 
shaken, but of all known substances it offers to 
cannon-balls the most completely baffling re- 
sistance. The fire of the fort often slackened 
and occasionally ceased; but it was only to 
repair damages, which, however serious they 
may have seemed, were, in reality, not consider- 
able. 

General B atler and his staff arrived in the 
afternoon, and had hospitable welcome on board 
the flag-ship Hartford. He found that the faith 
of the naval men in the efficiency of the bombs 
had ebbed away under the monotony of the in- 
efieclual fire of two days. The cable was loom- 
ing up, as the ruling topic of conversation. The 
cable must be cut ; how shall we cut the cable? 
After dark, the general and some members of 
his staff went up the river in a small boat, to 
take a look at this inconvenient barrier. They 
satisfied an enhghtened curiosity without molest- 
ation from the enemy ; but on returning were 
fired upon by one of the mortar-boats, and 
narrowly escaped being hit. The cable did not 
strike these Yankees as being an obstacle abso- 
lutely insurmountable. 

All night, at long intervals, the mortars played 
upon the fort, each of the three divisions taking 
the duty in turn. A deserter, a Dan Rice circus 
performer from Pennsylvania, made his way 
through the swamps from Fort Jackson to the 
fleet, lighted and guided by the fire of the mor- 
tars, often floundering in mire up to his arm-pits. 
He could only tell that the fort was well bat- 
tered by the bombs. He escaped in the confu- 
sion caused by the explosion of a shell in alarm- 
ing proximity to the magazine. 

The third day of the bombardment presented 
no new incident to the outside spectator. The 
mortar-men were beginning to grumble at the 
inaction of the statelier vessels of the fleet, and 
the officers commanding those vessels were arri- 
ving at the conclusion, that the work of reducing 
the fort would, after all, devolve upon them. A- 
council of captains was held in the cabin of the 
Hartford. The prevailing opinion was, that the 
mortar experiment should be fully tried, and 
then the running-by attempted. Captain Farra- 
gut issued, in the course of the day the following 
order : 

" The flag-officer, having heard all the opinions 
expressed by the different commanders, is of the 
opinion that whatever is to be done will have to 
be done quickly, or we will again be reduced to 
a blockading squadron, without the means of 
carrying on the bombardment, as we have nearly 
expended all the shells and fuses and material 
for making cartridges. He has always enter- 
tained the same opinions which are expressed 
by Commodore Porter — that is, that there are 
three modes of attack, and the question is, 
which is the one to he adopted? His own 
opinion is that a combination of two should be 
made, viz.: The forts should be ran, and when a 
force is once above the forts to protect the 
troops, they should be landed at quarantine from 



the gulf side, by bringing them through the 
baj^ou ; and then our forces should move up the 
river, mutually aiding each other, as it can her 
done to advantage. 

" When, in the opinion of the flag-officer, the- 
propitious time has arrived, tlie signal will be 
made to weigh and advance to the conflict. If, 
in his opinion, at the time of arriving at the 
respective positions of the different divisions of 
the fleet, we have the advantage, he will make 
the signal for 'close action,' and abide the result, 
conquer or to be conquered, drop anchor or keep 
under way as, in his opinion, is best. Unless 
the signal above mentioned is made, it will be 
understood that the first order of sailing will be 
formed after leaving Fort St. Philip, and we will 
proceed up the river in accordance with the 
original opinion expressed." 

But first, the cable must be cut. It was re- 
solved to attempt it that very evening. Petards 
had been brought from the north for the purpose 
of blowing up the hulks whicli supported it, and 
Mr. Kroehl, the inventor of the contrivance, was 
on board the fleet to superintend the operation. 
The plan was to throw a petard on board one of 
the hulks, and discharge it by an electric spark 
sent along a wire from a gun-boat. Captain Bell 
was detached to conduct the daring and difficult 
enterprise. Two of the gun-boats, the Pinola 
and the Itasca, were placed under his command, 
and they were to be supported by the Iroquois, 
the Kennebec, and the Winona. 

The night was fortunately dark ; but the 
current, under the influence of the recent freshet, 
ran with unwonted velocity, ;md a gale was 
blowing down the river. At ten, the Pinola and 
the Itasca started on their errand, watched as 
they passed into the darkness beyond the flag- 
sliip, with an interest which no language can 
describe. The success of the expedition, the fate 
of New Orleans, was felt to depend upon that 
night's work. When the two ve.<sels had gone 
beyond the line of mortar-schooners. Captain 
Porter opened a fire upon the torts, so heavy, so 
continuous, that the previous bombardment 
seemed mere plaj in comparison with it. At 
some moments, eight shells were in the air at 
once, eight globes of fire, curving magnificently 
over the black outline of the forest. Amid this 
hurly-buriy, the Pinola ran up toward the cable, 
near the western shore, almost under the guns 
of the forts, and approached one of the hulks. 
Mr. Kroehl was ready with his petard, and threw 
it successfully on board. But as the engine had 
been stopped at the same moment, the wind, 
and current instantly carried the vessel down 
the stream, and the coil of wire on deck ran out 
hke the cord of a harpoon when the whale has 
been struck. Before the operator could discharge 
the spark, the wire snapped, and the attempt 
was a failure ; the Pinola whirling away down 
the river at a prodigious rate. Such was the 
force of the gale and the current, and such the 
darkness of the night, tliat it was half an hcur 
before the vessel was again under eommard with 
her bow towards the cable. 

The Itasca, meanwhile, under Captain Cald- 
well, had tackled the next schooner, one near 
the middle of the river. The Ita.sca had no 
petard ; she trusted to dexterous hands and cold 
steel. Steaming up close to the hulk, mei: 
sprang on board, lashed the gun-boat secure'/ 



58 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



to her side, and then proceeded in a groping way 
to study the arrangement of the cable. A rocket 
fihot into the air. They were discovered. Both 
.''orts opened fire ; but, protected by the darkness 
and the smoke, the gallant men of the Itasca 
worked in perfect security, not a shot coming 
near enough to discompose them. Half an hour 
sufficed. The cable was severed with sledge and 
chisel ; the anchors of the hulks were slipped ; 
,ind instantly, gun-boat and hulk, borne away 
by wind and tide, swung round to the eastern 
shore, and grounded in the mud, under the 
ore of both forts. Luckily the hulk had the 
inside berth ; still, the Itasca was hard and fast 
by the forefoot. By this time, however, the 
Pinola was at her post once more, and came to 
the assistance of her consort. For an hour or 
more she tugged to get her afloat ; jjarted two 
Hve-incli hawsers without moving her; but 
started her at last with one of eleven inches; 
when both vessels came down in triumph with- 
■out a scratch. 

The success of the enterprise was complete ; 
for after the removal of the central hulk, the 
current caused the one on each side of the aper- 
ture 10 swing away, so as to make an opening 
wide enough to admit several large ships abreast. 
A boat's crew of the Itasca's men pulled up two 
nights after into the opening, sounded the 
-channel, and found no obstruction whatever to 
the ascent of the fleet. Well done, Itasca 1 

The last clieers died away. The bombard- 
ment subsided to its usual nightly average, and 
the forts were silent. The moon rose. At two 
o'clock a tire-raft of immense extent came down 
■before the north wind and rushing current, 
blazing, roaring, cracking, and rolling aloft the 
densest volumes of smoke. It passed by the 
mortar fleet, and whirled past the flag-ship, only 
lifty feet from her side, scorching the men on 
deck, grazing the Scioto, and went on its way 
toward the lower divisions of the fleet. But the 
mortar-men grappled the monster in time, towed 
it on shore, and put out the fire. There was 
little sleep in the fleet that night. The sleepy 
but indomitable reporter of the Herald was 
obliged to fall back upon the reflection, that, if 
the expedition was successful, it would be a fine 
thing to talk about for the rest of his mortal life. 
Meanwhile, the work was rather wearing to a 
reporter, dozing within a few yards of a bom- 
barding fleet, and having to tumble up every 
lew minutes to witness spectacles that had 
ceased to be interesting. Let us gratefullj'' note 
that the gentlemen of the press, connected with 
the fleet and the army, served the public with 
signal fidelity. It is no joke to prepare, during 
such a week as this, in such circumstances as 
theirs, a mass of manuscript equivalent to a 
hundred pages of foolscap, abounding in passages 
highly pictorial, and the whole executed with 
;ra evident desire to tell the truth. Would that 
these brave and laborious public servants were 
more justly rewarded. 

The fourth day of the bombardment passed 
without incident. Nearly four tliousand shells 
had been fired, and stOl the forts replied with no 
perceptible diminution of vigor. It was a costly 
business, this bombardment, each shell costing 
the government not far from fifty dollars. In 
the evening the enemy appeared to be making 
c?ii\e attempts to repair the cable, but the fire 



of the gun-boats in advance kept them from 
effecting their purpose. Anotlier fire-rafb at 
niglit paled its ineffectual fire under the dexter- 
ous handling of the mortar-men. 

Tlie fifth day dawned — April 22d. Captain 
Farragut had intended that this should be the 
last of the bombardment ; but it chanced that 
two of the gun-boats had been so much injured 
as to require the assistance of all the carpenters 
in the fleet. He determined, therefore, to wait 
another day. The morning of the twenty-fourth, 
between midnight and day-light, if wind and 
weather were not too perverse, was the desig- 
nated time. The conduct of the enemy showed, 
what their officers afterwards asserted, that they 
were aware of this determination before suarli<? 
on the morning of the 23d. 

The sixth day the forts were silent. Not one 
gun was fired by them from morning till night. 
The bombardment was languidly continued. 
Green-horns said Fort Jackson had been evac- 
uated. Others thought the enemy were draw- 
ing a new cable across the river above St. 
Philip. Men at the mast-head of the flag-ship 
reported twelve steamers above the forts, with 
steam up, moving about briskly. Occasionally 
one of these came down to the old cable, as if 
to reconnoiter, drew the fire of a gun-boat, and 
away up the river again. No inference couid 
be drawn from the absence of a flag from Fort 
Jackson, for it had hoisted no flag after the first 
day. Evidently the rebels were there — were 
active ; but what they were doing could only be 
guessed. 

We now know that they were collecting 
their strength for the final struggle, in perfect 
confidence of victory. The general commanding 
in New Orleans wrote that day to General Dun- 
can: " Say to your officers and men that their 
heroic fortitude in enduring one of the most 
terrific bombardments ever known, and the 
courage which they have evinced will surely 
enable them to crush the enemy whenever he 
dares come from under cover. Their gallant con- 
duct attracts the admiration of all, and will be 
recorded in history as splendid examples for 
patriots and soldiers. Anxious but confident 
families and friends are watching them with firm 
reliance, based on their gallant exhibition, thus 
far made of indomitable courage and great mili- 
tary skill. The enemy will try your powers of 
endurance, but we believe with no better success 
than already experienced." 

Duncan reported : " Heavy and continued 
bombardment all night, and still progressing. 
No further casualties, except two men slightly 
wounded. God is certainly protecting us. We 
are still cheerful, and have an abiding faith in 
our ultimate succes.s. We are making repairs as 
best we can. Our barbette guns are still in 
working order. Most of them have been dis- 
abled at times. The health of the troops con- 
tinues good. Twenty-five tliou.sand thirteen- 
inch shells have been fired by the enemy, one 
thousand of which fell in the fort. They must 
soon exhaust themselves; if not, we can stand 
as long as they can." 

Not twenty-five thousand shells: five thou- 
sand. Not a thousand inside the fort: only 
three hundred. The recreant mast have pur- 
posely exaggerated. He could not but have 
known better. The whole number of shells 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



59 



thrown was five thousand five hundred and thir- 
ty-two; and when Duncan wrote, the grand, final, 
volcanic eruption of sliells had not taken place. 

At sunset, on the evening of the 23d, Captain 
Farragut had completed his arrangements for 
running bJ^ The fleet was in five divisions. 
The mortar-boats. were to retain the position 
they had held during the bombardment, and 
cover the attack with the most rapid fire of 
which thej' were capable. The six small steam- 
ers attached to the mortar-fleet — the Harriet 
Lane, "Westfield, Owasca, Clifton, Miami and 
Jackson, the last named towing the Ports- 
mouth — were to engage the water-battery be- 
low Fort Jackson, but not attempt to pass the 
forts. Captain Farragut, with the three largest 
ships, the Hartford, Richmond and Brooklyn, 
were to advance upon Fort Jackson. Captain 
Bailey, second in command, with the Cayuga, 
Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katah- 
din, Kineo, and Wissahickon, were to proceed 
along the eastern bank, and close with Fort St. 
Philip. Captain Bell, commanding the third 
division, which consisted of the Scioto, Iroquois, 
Pinola, Winona, Itasca, and Kennebec, was to 
advance in the middle of the river, and push on 
to the attack of the enemy's fleet above the 
forts. As night drew on, these divisions lay in 
their proper order, ready for the signal. 

The norther had died away. The night was 
still, and a very light southerly breeze spread a 
haze over the river. The occasional discharge 
of the bombs, like minute-guns over the dead, 
seemed but to deepen the hush and awfulness of 
the hour. The men went early to their ham- 
mocks, and the officers conversed in the low 
tone of men on tlie eve of battle. Lieutenant 
Weitzel continued to impart to them the benefit 
of his local and professional knowledge. He 
advised them to run in as close as possible to 
the forts. The tendency of all men in battle, he 
said, was to fire too high, and the gunners of the 
forts had been for a week firing as high as the 
guns could be elevated. Besides, they would 
naturally expect the ships to keep at a distance, 
and would aim for the middle of the river. The 
ships, too, would certainly fire over those low 
forts, unless the officers took particular precau- 
tious to keep the guns depressed. General But- 
ler, Lieutenant "Weitzel, and the rest of the staflf, 
went on board the Saxon, leaving the naval offi- 
cers to their repose. The general ordered steam 
to be kept up upon the little steamer, that he 
might be in instant readiness to join the army at 
the head of the passes, if the fleet should pass 
the forts. 

Men sleep the night before their execution, 
but not the night before their trial. There was 
not much sleeping achieved in the fleet, though 
the stillness of death pervaded the ships. "For 
myself," said a reporter, "I could not think of 
sleep, because of ray anxiety for the success of 
the momentous undertaking which was soon to 
commence. I passed the slow- hours in gazing 
at the dark outlines of the vessels. A death- 
like stillness hung over every ship, unrelieved by 
the faintest glimmer of lamp-light. There were 
no warm colors in the picture, and its cold, 
dreary aspect, was suggestive of any but pleas- 
ant thoughts." * 

* TJKes. 



At eleven, a signal from the Itasca announced 
that all was clear at the cable. Note, however, 
that the hulks, all but the one removed by the 
Itasca, were still in the river. The opening was 
wide, but, in the darkness of the night, the 
hulks might prove troublesome, especially as the 
smoke of the ascending ships' guns would roll 
over them. It was just the night for smoke to 
settle down, and, mingling with the fog, hang in 
an impenetrable mass over the river; for the 
breeze was of the lightest, and the atmosphere 
was heavy. In every respect, the night was 
favorable for an enterprise which darkness alone 
could render possible. The moon would peep 
over the horizon at three'; but, by the time she 
had risen above the forest, it was hoped that her 
light would be welcome. 

At one, all hands were called. Hammocks 
were stowed. The last preparations were made. 
The low hiss of steam was heard at the boilers. 
At two o'clock, the signal to weigh anchor 
ascended to the peak of the flag-ship. " I had 
the honor," says the Herald correspondent, "to 
hoist the signal with my own hands." He did 
himself the honor also to run by with the ship — 
he and the artist of Harper^s Weekly — gallant 
fellows both. 

Captain Farragut's division, close in to the 
western bank, was ready to move at half-past 
two ; but Captain Bailey, on the eastern shore, 
with a more numerous division, was a little 
slower, and had some distance to go before get- 
ting abreast of Captain Farragut. At half-past 
three, the moon slanting a beam upon the swift 
river, the night still hazy, the ships began their 
simultaneous and silent advance. During the 
first few minutes, the very mortars lield their 
breath. In the distance, away up near the forts, 
fires could be seen, perhaps to light the ships to 
their destruction. The fleet advanced against 
the stream not faster than four miles an hour. 
The distance from the starting -place to a point 
above the forts beyond the reach of their guns, 
was about five miles — two miles to the torts, 
one mile under their guns, two miles to perfect 
safety. 

The mortars spoke. Everything had been pre- 
pared for the rapidest fire possible ; and the men 
surpas.sed all their previous exertions. Never 
less than five of those tremendous shells were in 
the air at the same moment ; often seven or 
eight ; sometimes, as many as eleven. The 
thunder, the roar, the crash, the smoke, the 
glowing bombs circling over the woods on the 
western bank — this was the mighty prelude to 
the opening scene. 

The fleet advanced in the appointed three 
lines, one ship close behind the other. Captain 
Bailey, on the eastern side, caught the first fire. 
His Cayuga had just passed through the open- 
ing in the cable, when both forts discovered him, 
and opened upon him with every available gun. 
The balls flew around the ship; but the firing 
was much too high, and he was seldom hulled. 
As yet, the Cayuga was silent, and the rebel 
gunners, as they afterwards said, could see noth- 
ing whatever; they averred that they aimed no 
gun that morning at an objucc, except when the 
flash oi Union guns gave them a momentary de- 
lusive target. Captain Bailey's division steamed 
on three-quarters of a mile under this fire, with- 
out firing a shot iu reply, guided on the way by 



60 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



the flashes of St. Philip. Running in, at length, 
close under the fort, lie gave them broadsides of 
grape and canister as he passed. The Pensa- 
cola, the Mississippi, the Varuna and the rest of 
the division followed close behind, each deliver- 
ing broadsides of small shot, and keeping stead- 
ily OQ in tlie wake of tlie Cayuga. All of the 
division passed the forts with little material dam- 
age, except the sailing Portsmouth, which could 
only get up near enough to fire one broadside, 
and then, losing her tow, became unmanageable 
and drifted away down the river. 

The middle division, uuder Captain Bell, was 
less fortunate, because it was the middle division. 
Half of Captain Bell's ships, the Scioto, the Iro- 
quois, and the Pinola, went handsomely by, 
under the most tremendous fire ; but the gallant 
Irasca, when directly opposite St. Philip, re- 
ceived a cataract of shot, one of which pierced 
her boiler, and she dropped helpless down the 
river. The Winona recoiled from the same 
annihilating fire, and retired. The Kennebec 
was caught in the cable, and when disentangled, 
lost her way in the stygian blackness of the 
smoke, and returned to her anchorage un- 
harmed. 

Captain Parragut, meanwhile, was having, to 
use his own language, " a rough time of it." 
The Hartford advanced to within a mile and a 
quarter of Fort Jackson before receiving the at- 
tentions of the Ibe — Captain Farragut, in the fore- 
rigging, peering into the night with his glass — 
all silent below and aloft. Then the fort opened 
upon the ship a fire that was better aimed than 
that which had saluted Captain Bailey. The 
ship was repeatedly struck. Captain Farragut 
anticipating the situation, had taken the precau- 
tion to mount two guns upon the forecastle, with 
which he now replied to the fire of the enemy, 
still steaming directly for the fort. At the dis- 
tance of half a mile, says the captain, '' we 
sheered oft" and gave them such a fire as they 
never dreamed of in their philosophy." Broad- 
sides of grape and canister drove every man in 
the fort under cover; but the casemate guns 
were in full play, and the Hartford was well 
peppered. The liichmond quickly followed, and 
deluged the fort with grape and canister. The 
Brooklyn, the last ship of this division, had tiie 
ill luck to be caught by one of the cable hulks, 
and so lagged behind. How nobly she redeemed 
hereelt, let Captain Craven relate : 

"I extricated my ship from the rafts, her 
head was turned up stream, and a few minutes 
thereafter she was fully butted by the celebra- 
ted ram Manassas. • She came butting into our 
starboard gangway, first firing from her trap- 
door when within about ten feet of the ship, di- 
rectly toward our smoke-stack — her shot enter- 
ing about five feet above the water-line, and 
lodging in the sand-bags which protected our 
steam drum. I had discovered this queer-look- 
ing gentlemen while forcing my way over the 
barricade lying close in to the bank, and when 
he made his appearance the second time, I was 
so close to him that he had not an opportunity 
to get up his full speed, and his efibrts to dam- 
age me were completely Irustrated, our chain- 
armor proving a perfect protection to our sides. 
He soon slid ofl' and disappeared iu the dark- 
ness. 

"A few minutes thereafter, being all this 



while under a raking fire from Fort Jacksoi^ 1 
was attacked by a large rebel steamer. Our 
port broadside, at the short distance of only fifty 
or sixty j-ards, completely finished him, setting 
him on fire almost instantaneously. 

'• Still groping my way in the dark, or under 
the black cloud of smoke from the fiire-rafl, I 
suddenly found myself abreast of St. Philip, and 
so close that the leadsman in the starboard 
chains gave the soundings ' thirteen feet, sir.' 
As we could bring all our guns to bear for a few 
brief moments, we poured in grape and canister, 
and I had the satis.'action of completely silencing 
that work before I left it, my men in the tops 
witnessing, in the flashes of their bursting shrap- 
nel, the enemy running like sheep for more com- 
fortable quarters." 

Quartermaster James Beck, he adds, stood by 
the wheel seven hours after receiving a severe 
contusion, and would not leave his post till pos- 
itivelj- ordered. 

Most of the ships had run by, and Captain 
Farragut, having escaped Fort Jackson, was ad- 
vancing toward the other fort, when a new ene- 
my appeared — the fleet of rebel gun-boats, lying 
in order of battle just above St. Philip. Capte.in 
Bailey, still leading the advance, in the Cayuga, 
was in the very midst oi' them before he was 
aware of their presence; in the midst of them, 
and so far as he could see, he was alone. It 
was a moment of anxiety. The rebel steamers 
ran at him, full tilt; but by skillful steering he 
contrived to avoid their blows, and pouring 
eleven-inch solid shot into them, reduced three 
to surrender before the other ships of his division 
came up. " The Varuna and Oneida came dash- 
ing in," says Captain Bailey, "and soon made a 
finish of them ;" but not until tlAj Varuna had 
gone down in glory to the bottom of the river, 
firing as she sank. 

" After passing the batteries with the Varuna," 
says Captain Boggs, "finding my vessel amid a 
nest of rebel steamers, I started ahead, delivering 
her fire, both starboard and port, at every one 
that she passed. The first vessel on her star- 
board beam that received her fire appeared to be 
crowded with troops. Her boiler was exploded, 
and she drifted to the shore. In like manner 
three other vessels, oue of them a gunJjoat, 
were driven ashore in flames, and alterward 
blew up. * * * The Varuna was attacked 
by the Morgan, iron-clad about the bow, com- 
manded by Beverly Kenuon, an ex-naval ofiicer. 
This vessel raked us along the port gangway, 
killing four and wounding nine of the crew, 
buttmg the Varuna 03 the quarter and again on 
the starboard side. I managed to get three 
eight-inch shells into her abaft lier armor, as also 
several shot from the after rifled gun, when she 
dropped out of action partially disabled. 

'• While still engaged with her, another rebel 
steamer, iron-clad, with a prow under water, 
struck us in the port gangway, doing consider- 
able damage. Our shot glanced from her bow. 
She backed ofi' lor another blow, and struck 
again iu the same place, crushing in the side; 
but, by going ahead fast, the concussion drew 
her bow around, and 1 was able with the port 
guns to give her, while close alongside, five 
eight-inch shells abaft her armor. This settled 
her, and drove her ashore in flames. 

'• Finding the Varuna sinking, I ran her into 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



61 



ine bank, let go the anchor, and tied up to the 
trees. 

" During all this time our guns were actively 
at work crippling the Morgan, which was mak- 
ing feeble efforts to get up steam. The fire was 
kept up until the water was over the gun-truck, 
when I turned my attention" to getting the 
wounded and crew out of the vessel. The 
Oneida, Captain Lee, seeing the condition of the 
Varuna, had rushed to her assistance, but I 
waved her on, and the Morgan surrendered to 
her, the vessel being in flames. I have since 
learned that over fifty of her crew were killed 
and wounded, and she was set on fire by her 
commander, who burned his wounded with his 
vessel." 

Thus, six of the enemy's fleet fell under the 
Varuna's fire before she sank, with colors flying, 
to the river's bed. 

While Captain Farragut was still battling with 
the forts, pouring broadsides into St. Philip, and 
receiving the fire of both, a huge fire-raft sud- 
denly blazed up before him, revealing the ram 
Manassas pushing the raft upon the Hartford. 
In attempting to steer clear of the I'aft, the Hart- 
ford ran upon the bank, when the raft came 
crashing along.side. " In a moment," says 
Captain Farragut, " the ship was one blaze all 
along the port side, half way up to the main and 
raizzen tops. But, thanks to the good organi- 
zation of the fire department by Lieutenant 
Thornton, the flames were extinguished and at 
the same time we backed off and got clear of 
the raft. But all this time we were pouring the 
shells into the forts, and they into us, and every 
now and then a rebel steamer would get under 
our fire and receive our salutation of a broadside. 
At length the fire slackened, the smoke cleared 
off, and we saw to our surprise that we were 
above the forts, and here and there a rebel ! 
gun-boat on fire. .\s we came up with them, 
trying to make their escape, they were fired into 
and riddled, so that they ran them on shore ; ) 
and all who could made their escape to the ! 
shore. The Mississippi and Manassas made a 
set at each other at full speed, and when they 
were within forty yards, the ram dodged the ] 
Mississippi and ran on shore, when the latter | 
poured her broadside into her, knocked away her I 
smoke-stack, and then sent men on board of her ; 
but she was deserted and riddled, and after ' 
a whQe she drifted down the stream full of 
water. She was the last of the eleven we de- 
stroyed." 

In the hurly-burly. Captain Farragut was 
struck by the wind of a passing shot, as he sat 
in the fore-rigging. Our friend of the Herald 
mentions that a shot, at the same time, knocked 
his cabin to pieces, shattered his effects, and 
nearly carried off the toilfully prepared manu- 
script of the bombardment. 

The scene when the fire caught the flag-ship, 
which was the crowning moment of the battle, 
is whoUy beyond the imagination to conceive; 
much more beyond the power of words to de- 
scribe. I shall not attempt the impossible. The 
mere noise was an experience unique to the 
oldest officers. Twenty mortars, a hundred and 
forty-two guns in the fleet, a hundred and twenty 
on the forts ; the crash of splinters, the explo- 
sions of boilers and magazines; the shouts, the 
cries, the shrieks of scalded and drowning men. 



Add to tliis the belching flashes of the guns, the 
blazing raft, the burning steamboats, the river full 
of fire. Tlie confined space in which the action 
was fought is to be also considered ; and, con- 
fined :i3 it was, each ship was fighting its own 
battle, ignorant of nearly all that passed beyond 
its own guns. " The river," says Captain Far- 
ragut, " was too narrow for more than two or 
three vessels to act to advantage, but all were so 
anxious, that my greatest fear was that we 
would fire into each other, and Captain Wain- 
wright and myself were hollowing ourselves 
hoarse at the men not to fire into our ships." 
The time, too, was wonderfully short. The 
forts were passed, and the enemy's fleet de- 
stroyed in an hour and a half after the ships had 
left their anchorage. 

The Cayuga had been struck forty- two time.s 
in the melee, to the great damage of masts and 
rigging. But Captain Bailey, keeping on up 
the river, descried, in the gray light of the dawn, 
a camp upon the shore at the quarantine station, 
five miles above the forts, the rebel soldiers in 
full flight. The flight was promptly arrested, 
and the oflScers surrendered the position. The 
fleet came up, ship after ship, each received with 
cheers, each responding with cheers, as she 
dropped her anchor in line along the shore. 
The dead, thirty in number, were buried. The 
wounded, of whom there were a hundred and 
nineteen, were duly cared for. Repairs were 
made, and the rigging was spliced ; for Captain 
Farragut was going on in quest of other batteries 
that still blocked the way. Captain Boggs, 
hailed by his generous comrades the hero of the 
morning, being without a ship, undertook to 
convey a dispatch round to General Butler in 
an open boat through a tortuous bayou. Two 
gun-boats were detailed to remain at the quar- 
antine station and co-operate with the troops in 
the contemplated landing behind Fort St. Philip. 
At eleven in the morning, Captain Farragut 
gave the signal, and the fleet stood up the river — 
so slight was the damage received in the action. 
Except the Itasca and the Varuna, no vessel 
had received snfiQcient injury to seriously impair 
her efl'ective force — an escape that was wholly 
due to the darkness of the night. In daylight 
no wooden ship could have passed those forts; 
nor could iron-clads, if the forts had mounted 
such guns as the rebels now have at Charleston. 
Of those who witnessed the scenes of this 
memorable morning, none looked on with an 
interest so absorbing and profouud as General 
Butler and a group of his staff officers — Major 
Strong, Major Bell, Lieutenant Weitzel, and 
Lieutenant Kinsman. They were on board the 
Saxon, which followed closely in the rear of 
Captain Bailey's division, until the shells from 
the forts, splashing in the water before and be- 
hind the little vessel, warned the general that 
he had gone far enough. " We forgot," says 
Major Bell, " that Porter's twenty mortar-boats 
were vomiting from beside us a horrid discharge 
of shell ; we forgot that we were witiiin the 
range of the enemy's and our own guns, and that 
the sliells of both were falling about us — such 
was the fascination which lured us on behind 
the advancing ships." The Saxon had eight 
hundred barrels of powder on board — a fact of 
which her captain was painfully conscious. He 
was a happy man when the general gave the 



'62 



REDUCTION OF THE FORTS. 



word to drop a little astern. From a point jast 
below the reach of the guns, the party on the fore- 
castle of the Saxon saw the fleet vanish into the 
bend, and heard the tremendous uproar of the 
fire. •' Combine," says Major Bell, " all you 
have ever heard of thunder, and add to it ail 
you have ever seen of lightning, and you have, 
perhaps, a conception of the scene." The}' 
could not tell what was happening, nor who was 
winning. Still more puzzed were the}' when 
the fleet seemed to have jsassed the forts, and 
the cannonade, which had slackened, broke out 
again with more fury than before. Then the 
forts were illumined with fire. Is it a burning 
ship? "No," said Lieutenant Weitzel, "it is 
too low for that." Portions of the burning raft, 
steamboats burning and hissing came by, the 
river at times covered with fire. The vessels 
that failed to get past drifted down, but could 
give little information of what had been achieved. 

The cannonade subsided at length, and the 
fiery masses disappeared from the river. It was 
the time of sunrise, but a pall of smoke hung 
over land and water. It was darker than mid- 
night. A breeze sprang up, and rolled the 
smoke from the river. Startling change! In 
three minutes the sun of a bright April morning 
shone upon tlie scene. There lay the forts, witli 
the flag of secession waving from both flag-staffs, 
hoisted to denote that they were still unsubdued. 
But, away up the river, beyond the forts, could 
be seen the top-masts of the fleet, dressed in the 
stars and stripes ! Captain Porter's fleet of 
steamers were coming rapidly down the river, 
propelled by a report that the " celebrated ram 
Manassas" was after them. " And sure enough," 
says Captain Porter, " there she was, apparently 
steaming along shore, ready to pounce upon the 
apparently defenceless mortar vessels. Two of 
our stenmers and some of the mortar- vessels 
opened fire upon her, but I soon discovered that 
the Manassas could harm no one again, and I 
ordered the vessels to save their shot. She was 
beginning to emit some smoke from her ports or 
holes, and was discovered to be on fire and sink- 
ing. Her pipes were all twisted and riddled 
with shot, and her hull was also well cut up. 
She had evidently been used up by the squadron 
as they passed along. I tried to save her, as a 
curiosity, by getting a hawser around her and 
securing her to the bank ; but just after doing 
BO she faintly exploded, her only gun went oti", 
anu emitting flames through her bow port, like 
some huge animal, she gave a plunge and dis- 
appeared under the water. Next came a steamer 
on fire, which appeared to be a vessel of war be- 
longing to the rebels ; and after her two others, 
all burning and floating down the stream." 

This looked like victory. But was it a vic- 
tory ? The rebel flags waved defiance still ; and 
it soon appeared that three of the enemy's gun- 
boats had escaped destruction, one of which was 
the ponderous armed dry-dock, named the 
Louisiana. True, she was a phantom — a useless, 
lumbering, unmanageable hulk. But this was 
not suspected. She was supposed to be a 
steam battery of sixteen Merrimac power, capa- 
ble o*" crushing a poor little row of mortar-boats 
with one graze of her iron-clad sides. 

About seven in the morning, Captain Porter 
sent a gun- boat toward the forts, with a flag of 
truce, to demand their surrender. Five cannon- 



balls from one of them (the color of the flag not 
having been discerned), gave an intimation of 
tlie answer that might be expected. The gun- 
boat retired, followed soon by a rebel officer 
with apologies, who also brought a reply to the 
summons: No surrender, the forts will never 
surrender. The rebel gun-boats hovered about 
above the cable, drawing renewal of fire from 
the moriar-vessejs. But the Louisiana ! Word 
was brought by a gun-boat, which had given 
the rebel messenger a friendly tow up the 
stream, that Fort Jackson was transferring heavy 
guns to the monster, which, it was thought 
would soon be down among the residue of the 
fleet. Captain Porter ordered the mortar-vessels 
to weigh anchor and hasten down the stream. 
Towed by the steamers belonging to them, they 
abandoned the vicinity of the forts, leaving the 
enemy to repose, and proceeded to the head of 
the passes. Two killed, six wounded, one ves- 
sel sunk, four or five slight!}'- injured were the 
losses the mortar-fleet had sustained during the 
bombardment. 

General Butler, perceiving now that the time 
had come for the army to play its part, borrowed 
a light-draft steamer from Captain Porter, and 
hastened down the river to join his troops. 

During the next three days the forts were not 
molested and fired not a gun. Dismounted 
guns were replaced, some repairs were made, 
and the garrison rested from their labors ; their 
numbers little diminished by the week's fire, the 
forts as strong in defensive power as when the 
bombardment began. Captain Porter in his 
first report remarked : " These forts can hold out 
still for some time, and I would suggest that the 
Monitor and Mystic, if they can be spared, be 
sent here without a moment's delay, to settle 
the question.'' There was still a chance then, 
for General Butler and his impatient troops, who 
had been lying a week at the passes, hearing, 
when the wind blew down the river, the distant 
thunder of the bombardment. 

Up anchor, all the transport steamers! The 
sailing vessels in tow to remaiu in the river 
under General Phelps. Genersd Williams to 
command the troops on board the steamers. 

Sable Island, twelve miles in the rear of St. 
Philip, was the rendezvous. Twenty-four hours 
were lost by the grounding of the borrowed 
Miami, an ex-ferry-boat, drawing seven feet and 
a half. Captain Boggs reached the general with 
a dispatch from Captain Farragut, having been 
twenty-six hours in an open boat. " We had a 
hot time of it," wrote the flag-officer; "but 
after being on fire and run at by tne ram, and 
attacked by forts and rebel steamers, we suc- 
ceeded in getting through, taking all their gun- 
boats and the ram to boot." He added that he 
should " push on" to New Orleans, leaving tht? 
forts to the tender mercies of the general. 

On the 26th of April, the Twenty-Sixth Mas- 
sachusetts under Colonel Jones, the same Colo- 
nel Jones that led the Sixth Massachusetts 
through Baltimore on the 19th of April, ISGl, 
was crowded on board the Miami, with com- 
panies of the Fourth Wisconsin and Twenty- 
First Indiana. Cautiously the little steamer 
felt her way in those shallows; but when the 
fort was still six miles distant, she grounded 
again. The thirty boats were manned and filled 
with troops. Guided by Lieutenant Weitzel, 



THE PANIC IN NEW ORLEANS. 



63 



and by Captain Everett of the Sixth Massachu- 
setts battery, who had been out reconnoiteri-ag 
there during the bombardment, the boats pulled 
for the swampy shore. The ba\-ous empty into 
the gulf at that point with sucii a rush of cross 
currents, lliat, at times, it was all the boats 
could do to hold their own. Four miles and a 
half of fierce rowing brought them into Manuel's 
canal, which, running like a mill-race, forbade 
farther progress by rowing. Soldiers sprang 
into the water — a line of soldiers clutching the 
side of each boat ; and floundering thus breast- 
deep in water and mire, and phantom sharks, 
drew the boats by main force a mile and a half, 
to a landing jDlace five miles above St. Philip. 
By this laborious process two hundred of the 
troops were landed from the Miami in the course 
of the day, meeting no opposition. Lieutenant 
Weitzel stationed part of them on the western 
bank, part on the eastern. Captain Porter had, 
meanwhile, placed some of his mortar-schooners 
in the bay behind Fort Jackson ; and thus, on 
the morning of the 27th, the forts were invested 
on every side — up the river, down the river, and 
in the rear. 

That night came the thrilling news that Cap- 
tain Farragut's fleet was at anchor before New 
Orleans. General Butler, perceiving the abso- 
lute necessity of light-draft steamers for landing 
his heavy guns and ammunition, desiring also to 
confer with Captain Farragut, left General 
"Williams to continue the landing of the troops 
— a work of days — and went up to the city, 
accompanied by Captain Boggs. 

The same night, a picket of Union men on 
the western bank had a peculiar and joyful ex- 
perience. A body of rebel troops, two hundred 
and fifty in number, came out of Fort Jackson, 
and gave themselves up. They said thej' had 
fought as long as fighting was of any use : but, 
seeing the forts surrounded, they had resolved 
not to be sacrificed upon a point of honor, and 
therefore had mutinied, spiked the up-river guns, 
and broken away. The forts were still defensible," 
however, and could have given the troops a tough 
piece of work. But the next morning the offi- 
cers deemed it best to surrender. Captain Por- 
ter, who chanced to be present in the river, and 
had the means of reaching the forts by water, 
negotiated the surrender, granting conditions more 
favorable than were necessary. The officers 
were allowed to retain their side-arms and pri- 
vate propertj', and both officers and men were 
released on parole. While the negotiations were 
proceeding in the cabin of the Harriet Lane, the 
huge Louisiana was set on fire by her officers, 
and set adrift down the river. She blew up only 
just in time not to destroy the Union fleet, 
toward which she was drifting. The explosion 
was regarded l)y the army as a commentatory note 
of exclamation upon the favorable terms con- 
ceded to the garrison. Captain Porter justly placed 
in close 'confinement the officers who had done 
the dastardly act. 

The joy, the curiosity with which the troops 
entered the forts and scanned the result of the 
long fire upon them, may be imagined. St. Philip, 
beyond one or two slight abrasures, was abso- 
lutely uninjured. Respecting the damage done 
to Fort Jackson, different opinions have been 
published. It is important for our instruction in 
the art of war, that the truth upon this point 



should be known and established. The testi- 
mony of Lieutenant Weitzel will settle the ques- 
tion in the mind of every officer of the regular 
army. In a report to General Butler, dated May 
5th, 1862, Lieutenant Weitzel says: 

" The navy passed the works, but did not 
reduce them. Fort St. Philip stands, with on& 
or two slight exceptions, to-daj- without a scratch. 
Fort Jackson was subjected to a torrent of thir- 
teen-inch and eleven-inch shells during a hun- 
dred and forty-four hours. To an inexperienced 
eye it seems as if this work were badlj' cut up. 
It is as strong to-day as when the first shell vjos 
fired at it. The rebels did not bomb-proof the 
citadel ; consequently the roof and furring caught 
fire. This fire, with subsequent shells, ruined 
the walls so much that I am tearing it down and 
removing the debris to the outside of the work. 
Three shot furnaces and three cisterns were 
destroyed. At several points the breast-high 
walls were knocked down. One angle of the 
magazine on the north side of the postern was 
knocked ofi'. Several shells went through the 
flank casemate arches (which were not covered 
with earth), and a few through the other case- 
mate arches (where two or more struck in the 
same place). At several points in the casemates, 
the thirteen-inch shell would penetrate through 
the earth over the arches, be stopped by the 
latter, then explode, and loosen a patch of 
brick-work in the souflfoir of the arch about 
three feet in diameter and three-quarters of a 
brick deep, at its greatest depth. 

" To resist an assault, and even regular ap- 
proaches, it is as strong to-day as ever it was." 

If the splendid daring of Captain Farragut 
aud the fleet deprived General Butler of his lieu- 
tenant-generalship, it is but just to him and the 
army to declare, that it was the prompt and un- 
expected landing of the troops in the rear of St. 
Philip that caused the mutiny which led to the 
surrender. Fighting wins the laurel, and justly 
wins it, for fighting is the true and final test of 
soldierly merit : but a maneuver which accom- 
plishes results without fighting — that also merits 
recognition. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE PANIC IK NEW ORLEANS. 

New Orleans did not rush headlong into 
secession in the Charleston manner. The doc- 
trine, that if Mr. Luacoln was elected the nation 
must be broken up, was not popular there during 
the canvass of 1860 ; it was, on the contrary, 
scouted by the ablest newspapers, and the influ- 
ential men. In 1856, the city had given a ma- 
jority of its votes to Mr. Fillmore ; in 1850, 
Bell aud Everett were the favorite candidates. 
Bell, 5,215; Douglas, 2,996; Breckinridge, 
2,646; Lincoln, 0. The fact was manifest to all 
reflecting men, that the two states which de- 
rived from the Union the greatest sum-tolal of 
direct pecuniary benefit were Massachusetts aud 
Louisiana. 

The great sugar interest, the Creole sugar- 
planters, who held the best of the cultivated parts 
of the state, stood by the Union last of all. 

But the first gun fired in a war, carries ?.oa- 



«4 



THE PANIC IN NEW ORLEANS. 



■victlon to v/avering minds. 'Eveiy man in the 
■world either is a secessionist, or could become 
■one, who holds slaves, or who could hold slaves 
with an ea.«y conscience, or who can contem- 
plate the fact with indifference that Slaves are 
held. In this great controvers}', the United 
States has not one hearty and perfectly trust- 
worthy adherent on earth, who is not now an 
abolitionist. Its actual and possible enemies are 
all who do not detest slavery, whether they be 
called secessionists, copperheads, or Englishmen. 

So the " moral epidemic" spread in New 
Orleans, and it became nearly unanimous for 
secession. If the majority for secession was 
small in the city, it sufficed to make secession 
master. Union men were banished 'by law; 
Union senttments suppressed by violence. I 
know not whether the horrid tale of the New 
England school mistress stripped naked in Lafay- 
ette Square, and tarred and feathered amid 
the jeers of the mob, is true or false. I presume 
it is false; but the fact remains, that neither 
man nor woman could utter a syllable for the 
Union in New Orleans in the hearing of the pub- 
lic, and live. A very few persons of pre-eminent 
standing in the city, like the noble Durant, and 
a few old men, who could not give up their 
'Country and the flag they had fought under in 
the days of their youth, were tolerated even 
with ostentation — so firm in the saddle did seces- 
•sion feel itself. 

Even the foreign consuls were devoted seces- 
sionists ; all except Senor Hiiiz, "the Mexican 
■consul. Reichard, the consul of Prussia, raised 
a battalion in the city, and led it to Virginia, 
where he rose to the rank of brigadier-general, 
(having left in New Orleans, as acting-consul, 
Mr. Kruttsmidt, his partner, who had married a 
■daughter of the rebel secretary of war. The 
'Other consuls, connected with secession by ties 
of business or matrimony, or both, were among 
the most zealous adherents of ■the Cortfederate 
cause. This is an important fact, when we con- 
•sider that two-thirds of the business men were 
of foreign birth, and a vast proportion of the 
whole population were of French, Spanish, and 
■German descent. 

The double blockade — blodkade above and 
blocRade below — struck death to the commerce 
of New Orleans, a city created and sustained 
iby commerce alone. How wonderful was that 
commerce ! ' The crescent bend of the river 
upou which the city stands, a waving line seven 
miles in extent, used to display the commercial 
activity of the place to striking advantage. 
Cotton ships, eight or ten deep; a forest of 
roasts, denser than any but a tropical forest; 
steamboats in bewildering numbers, miles of 
them, puffing and hiesing, arriving, departing, 
and tlireateiiing to depart, with great clangor of 
bells and scream of whistles ; cotton-bales piled 
high along the levee, as far as the eye could 
Teach ; acres and acres covered ■with hogsheads 
of sugar; endless flotillas of flat-boats, market- 
boats, and timber-rafts ; gangs of negroes at 
work upon every part of the levee, with loud 
chorus and outcry ; and a constant crowd of 
'Clerks, merchants, sailors, and bandanna-crowned 
aegro women selling coffee, cakes, and fruit. It 
was a spectacle without parallel on the globe, 
'because the whole scene of the city's industry 
was presented in one view. 



"What a change was WTougbt by the mere 
announcement of the blockade! The cotton 
ships disappeared; the steamboats were laid 
away in convenient bayous, or departed up the 
river to return no more. The cotton mountains 
vanished ; the sugar acres were cleared. The 
cheerful song of ihe negroes was seldom heard, 
and grass grew on the Vacant levee. The com- 
merce of the city was dead ; and the forces 
hitherto expended iu peaceful and victorious 
industry, were wholly given up to waging war 
upon the power which had called that industry 
into being, defended it against the invader, pro- 
tected and nourished it for sixty years, guiltless 
of wrong. The young men enlisted in the army, 
compelling the reluctant stevedores, impressing 
with violence the foreign born. At the Ex- 
change, books were opened for the equipment 
of privateers. For the first six months there 
was much running of the blockade, one vessel 
in three escaping, and the profit of the third 
paying for the two lost. Hollins was busy in 
getting ready a paltry fleet of armed vessels for 
the destruction of the blookaders, and there was 
rare hammering upon rams and iron-clad steam- 
boats. Seventeen hundred families meanwhile 
were daily supplied at the " free market." Look 
into one wholesale grocery store through the 
following advertisement: 

" "We give notice to our friends generally, 
that we have been compelled to discontinue the 
grocery business, particularly for the reason that 
we have now no goods for sale, except a little 
L. F. salt. Persons ordering goods of tis must 
send the cash to fill the order, unless they have 
money to their credit. Four of our partners 
and six of our clerks are in the army, and hav- 
ing sold out our stock of goods on credit, we 
have no money to buy more to be disposed of 
that way." 

A word or two upon the "Thugs" of New 
Orleans, the party controlling municipal aflairs 
for some years past. New Yorkers are in a 
position to understand this matter with very lit- 
tle explanation, since the local politics of New 
Orleans and of New York present the same 
essential features, the same dire results of the 
fell principle of universal suffrage. Martin Yan 
Buren predicted it all forty-two years ago, when 
opposing the admission to the polls of every man 
out of prison who was twenty-one years of age. 
He said then, what we now know to be true, 
that universal suffrage, in large commercial cit- 
ies, would make those cities a dead weight upon 
the politics of the states to which they belong; 
would repell from local politics the men who 
ouglit to control them; would consign tlie cities 
to the tender mercies of the Dexterous Spoiler,* 
who could only be dethroned by bloody revolu- 
tion. Is it not so? Who is master of certain 
great cities but Dexterous Spoiler, supported by 
the dollars of Head Jew ? 

It must be so under universal suffrage. Tiere 
we have, say, ten thousand ignorant voters; 
ignorant, many of them, of the very language of 
the country; ignorant, most of them, of the art 
of reading it. These ten tliousand are thirsty 
men, hangers-on of our six or seven thousand 
groggeries, the keepers of which are as com- 



* See Martin Van Bcren's argument in Parton's Lit* 
of Jackson, ill., 129. 



THE PANIC IN NEW ORLEANS. 



65 



pletely the minions aud servants of Dexterous 
as though they were m his pay. New Yorkers 
know why this is so. Here, then, are sixteen or 
seventeen thousand voters to begin with, as cap- 
ital-stock and basis of political business. Add 
to these five tliousand of those lazy, thoughtless 
men in the carpeted spheres of life, who can 
never be induced to vote at all; some even 
pluming themselves upon the fact. So there are 
twenty thousand votes or more, which Dexter- 
ous can, in all cases, aud in all weathers, count 
upon with absolute certainty. Then there are 
sundry other thousands who can only bo got to 
the polls by moving heaven aud earth; which 
is an expensive process, involving unlimited 
Roman caudles and endless hirings of the Cooper 
Institute. The majority of tliese, in most elec- 
tions, allow themselves to remain in the scale 
that weighs down struggling Decency. In a 
word, our Dexterous Spoiler, by his possession 
of the tetx thiMisand votes which a justly re- 
stricted suffrage would exclude, controls the pol- 
itics of the city. Probably, the mere exclusion 
of all voters who can not read would render the 
politics of cities manageable in the interests of 
Decency. In the absence of all restriction, the 
Spoiler mvst bear sway. 

•As in New York, so in New Orleans ; only 
worse. The curse of universal suffrage in New 
York is mitigated by several cu'cumstances, 
which have hitherto sufficed to keep anarchy at 
bay. First, it is still true in New York, that 
when the issue is distinct aud sole between De- 
cency and Spohation, and tliere has been the due 
moving of heaven and earth, the party of Decen- 
cy can always secure a small majoritj'' of the 
whole number of votes. Secondly, one evening, 
about fifteen years ago. New York rowdyism fell, 
weltering in blood, in Astor Place, before the 
fire of the Seventh regiment. It has known 
three days of resurrection since, owing to a com- 
bination of causes never likely to be again com- 
bined. Third, New York has had the supreme 
happiness of rescuing its police from all control 
of the Spoiler. The police department has been 
taken out of politics, and has daily improved 
ever since, until now there is no better police in 
the wiirld, and no city where the reign of order 
is more unbroken — where life and property are 
more secure. Again : the alliance between the 
Spoiler and the Banker compels the Spoiler to 
stop siiort of attempting the manifestly anarchic. 
The Spoiler, too, has his moneys and his usances, 
and values the same. 

What New York would have been without its 
small, safe majority ou the side of Decencj'', 
without the Astor Place riot, and without tlie ti- 
midity of Wall street, that New Orleans was, for 
many years before the rebellion ; with all evil 
tendencies accelerated and aggravated by the 
presence of slavery. New Orleans was the 
metropolis of the cotton kingdom, the receptacle 
of its wealth and of its refuse, the theater of its 
display and the pool of its abominations. 

Now, the peculiarity of the cotton kingdom — 
that which chiefly distinguishes it from the (jther 
kingdoms of the earth, is this : la other king- 
doms wickedness is committed, but is admitted 
Xoha wickedness; it is reprobated and warred 
upon ; it hides itself, and is asliamed. But the 
eoiton kingdom distinctly, and in the hearing of 
ihe whole woild, adopted wickedness as its por- 



tion and speciality. It did not say, Evil be 
thou our Good; but our Evil is not evil ; it is 
good, beneficent, and even Divine. In the case 
of Cain versus Abel, the cotton kingdom, with 
the utmost possible clearne.ss and decision, sup- 
ported Cain. If the " diEBculty " between the 
brothers had occurred in the rotunda of the St. 
Charles hotel, Public Opinion would have clap- 
ped Cain on the back, and called him a high- 
spirited, chivalrous young fellow, a worthy son 
ofoneofour first families. It was the unwrit- 
en law of New Orleans, that if one man said to 
another man an offensive word, the proper pen- 
was instant assassination ; which was precisely 
the principle upon which Cain acted. In New 
Orleans, every man carried about his person the 
means of executing this law with certainty aud 
dispatch. 

Doctor McCormick, of the United States armjf, 
medical director at New Orleans during General 
Butler's administration, familiar with the city in 
former years, related to me the following anec- 
dote: — 

Time — about ten years before secession. 
Place — the Charity Hospital at New Orleans, in 
charge of Doctor McCormick. A friend from the 
North visited the doctor at the hospital, and 
went the rounds with him one morning. 
Among the patients were four men wounded in 
affrays during the previous evening and night; 
two mortally, whose wounds the doctor dressed. 
The morning tour completed, the friends were 
leaving the building, when they met a raau 
coming in who had been just stabbed in the ej'e, 
in a street quarrel. The doctor dressed liis 
wound, and again the friends turned to go. 
Before reaching the front-door, they met a man 
with four balls in his cliest, received in an 
affiay. His wounds were dressed, and the gen- 
tlemen then succeeded in making their escape. 

" Doctor," exclaimed the visitor, aghast, " is 
this common?" 

" Not to this extent," replied the doctor, " not 
six a day. But two or three a day is common : 
that is about the daily average during the 
season." 

" Well," said his friend, " this is no place for 
me. I meant to stay a week ; but I leave New 
Orleans to-night," 

Duels, too. Miss Martineau's " fifteen duels 
on one Sunday morning" was* probably no ex- 
aggeration. Doctor McCormick declared, that 
he has himself witnessed six in one day from a 
window of the United States barracks. He has 
seen men in mortal combat while driving along 
a road near the city with his wife ; seen them 
fighting as he passed ; seen the dead body of one 
of them as he returned. 

•' What could the fools find to fight about ?" 
asks the incredulous northern reader. Hear a 
very competent witness. 

" Young men meet around the festive board 
The wine-cup passes freely." The climate fa- 
vors drinking ; men can drink three limes the 
quantity of wine that a northern head can bear. 
" Conversation becomes a confusion of unmean- 
ing words. One declares that General Lopez 
was a patriot and martyr to the cause of free- 
dom and the world, and another that he was an 
adventurer, and in bowing his neck to the 
garrote, only paid the penalty of his rashness. 
One avers that Isabella Catholica, mother to the 



66 



THE PANIC IN NEW ORLEANS. 



baby priace of the Asturias, is another Semira- 
mis — worse only — having had Christian bap- 
tism. Another, with equal warmth, contends 
that this same queen- moUier, patroness of all the 
bull-fights, and queen of the Antilles, is a wed- 
ded Vestal, more chaste llian the icicle which 
hangs on Diana's temples, purer than Alpine 
snows. One cries ' G-od save Spain's royal mis- 
tress;' and another swears that an anointed 
Amazon, who rides a-straddle through the 
streets, shall have have no vivas from him. A 
slap in the face ! The rising of the sun sees 
them on the battle-field, arrayed all in white. 
Under the spreading oaks of G-entilly, they 
crush the daises beneath their feet, and brush 
dew from the lilies that brightly blossom there. 
Is there none lo whisper peace ? Xone. There 
is a click of the swift trigger, and a hiss of the 
leaden death; a spring into the air; a yell, a 
groan, a gurgling of the purple life-current ; 
and it is done 1 What now? Chains and a 
prison for tlie slayer? Neither; but honor 
and laudation for him who has had the bravery 
to kill."« 

" Honor and laudation," says our narrator, 
await the murderer. Even so. Let me relate 
one of Dr. McCormick's duel anecdotes ; he hav- 
ing witnessed the scenes he- described, and as- 
sisted at them as attending surgeon. The 
events occurred not in New Orleans, but the par- 
ties well known there, all of them being men of 
wealth and great note in the cotton kingdom. 
Time, 1841. 

The principals were Colonel Augustus Alston, 
a graduate of West Point, and Colonel Leigh 
Reed ; planters, both ; chief men of their county ; 
politicians, of course. Long-standing, bitter 
feud between the families, aggravated by polit- 
ical aspirations and disappointments ; the whole 
county sympathizing with one or the other — 
eagerly, wildly sympathizing. The quarrel re- 
lieved the tedium of idleness ; served instead of 
morning paper to the men, supplied the want 
of new novels to the women. At length, one 
of the Alston party, on slight pretext, challenged 
Reed ; which challenge Reed refused to accept ; 
no man but Alston for his pistol. Another 
Alstonian challenge, and yet another he declined. 
Then Alston himself sent a challenge — Alston, 
the best shot in* a state whose citizens cultivated 
the deadly art with the zeal of saints toiling after 
perfection. This challenge Lee instantl}^ ac- 
cepted. Weapon, the rifle, hair-trigger, ounce 
ball. Men to stand at twenty paces, back to 
back ; to wheel at the word One ; to fire as 
soon as they pleased after the word; the second 
to continue counting as far as five ; after which, 
no firing. 

Reed was a slow, portly man — a good shot if 
he could fire in his own way without this pre- 
liminary wheeling. He regarded himself as a 
dead man ; he felt that he had no chance what- 
ever of liis life on such terms — not one in a 
thousand. He bought a coffin and a shroud, 
and arranged all his affairs for immediate death. 
The day before the duel, his second, a captain 
in the army, took him out of town and gave him 
a long drill in the wheel-and-fire exercise. The 
pupil was inapt — could not get the knack of 
wheeling. If he wheeled quickly, his aim was 

• New Orleans Delta, June 3d, 186-3. 



j bad ; if he wheeled slowly, there was no need of 
his aiming at all, for his antagonist was as ready 
with heel as with trigger, from old training at 
West Point. " Leigh," said the captain, " you 
must wheel quicker or you've no chance.'' 
Stimulated with this remark, Leigh wheeled with 
velocity, and fired with such success as to bring 
down a neighbor riding along the road. 

Reed sent his coffin and shroud to the field. 
Mrs. Alston accompanied her husband. " I have 
come," she said, " to see Leigh Reed shot." 

The men were placed, and the seconds counted 
one. In swiflly wheeling, the light cape of 
Alston's coat touched the hair-trigger, and hia 
ball whistled over Reed's head, who stood 
amazed, with rifle half presented. The word 
two, recalled him to himself; he fired; and 
Alston fell pierced through the heart. Mrs. 
Alston flew to her fallen husband, and found the 
ball which had slain him. In the sight and 
hearing of all the witnesses of the duel, her dead 
husband bleeding at her feet, she Ufted up the 
ball, and with loud voice and fierce dramatic 
gesture, swore that that ball should kill Leigh 
Reed. 

Now, observe the conduct of the " chivalry" 
upon this occasion. Note the Public Opinion 
of that community. Were they touched by 
Reed's magnificent courage'? Were they moved 
to gentler thoughts by Alston's just but lamen- 
table end ? The Montagues and Capulets were 
reconciled over dead Juliet and Romeo : 

" O brother Montague, give me thy hand ; 
This is my daughter' » jointure; for no more 
Can I demand." 

Not SO, the chivalry of the South. A few 
days after, ten of the Alston party, headed by 
Willis Alston, brother of the deceased, drew 
themselves up, rifle in hand, bowie-knip3 and 
pistol in belt, before the hotel in vvhicii tiie ad- 
herents of Reed were assembled congratulating 
their chief They sent in a messenger challeng- 
ing ten of the Reed party to come fortli and fight 
them in the pubhc square. Much parleying 
ensued, which ended in the refusal of the Reeds 
to accept the invitation. 

A few days after, Reed was seated at the table 
of the hotel, in the public diuing-room, at which 
also sat men, ladies and cliildren — 'a large^ 
number — Dr. McCormick among them. Willis 
Alston entered, took his stand opposite Reed, 
drew a pistol, and shot him througii the liver. 
The wound was not mortal. Alter some month* 
of confinement. Reed was well again, and went 
about as usual, the bloody-minded Alston stiil 
loose among the people. They met at length 
in the streets of the town, and Alston shot hmi 
again, inflicting this time a mortal wound. 

Then, there was a hideous farce of a trial. 
Every man in the court-room, except two, was 
armed to the teetlx Those two were the judge, 
and the principal witness, Doctor McCormick. 
The jurymen all had a rifle at their side in the 
jury-box — twelve men, twelve rifles. The- 
prisoner had two enormous horse-pistols pro- 
truding from his vest. The spectators were all 
armed ; the Reeds to prevent a rescue in case or 
conviction, the Alstons to protect their man in 
case of acquittal. The counsel tor the accused 
admitted that their client had shot the deceased, 
but contended that the wound then inflicted was 



THE PANIC IX NEW ORLEANS. 



67 



not tho cause of his death. Doctor McCormick 
was called, and took the stand amid the deepest 
silence, the prisoner glaring at him like the wild 
beast he was. 

'•' Is it your belief that the deceased came to 
his death from the wound inflicted by the pris- 
oner at the bar ?" 

'' [ liave no belief on the subject," replied the 
witness. '' It is not a matter of belief, but of 
fact. I knmu he did." 

That . night, the trial not yet concluded, the 
prisoner deemed it best to escape from prison. 
He went to Texas ; met on the road tliere an 
old enemy, whom he shot dead in his saddle ; 
and on reaching the next town, boasted of his 
exploit to the murdered man's friends and 
neighbors. Thirty of them seized him, tied him 
to a tree, and shot him, all the thirty firing at 
once, to divide tlie responsibility among them. 
And so the brute's career was fitly ended. 

Nor can we pity the murdered Reed, brave as 
he was; for he, too, was a man of blood. They 
tell of an early duel of his so incredibly savage, 
that, in comparison with it. General Jackson's 
little affair with Charles Dickinson seems the 
play of boys. Picture it. Two men standing 
sixty feet apart, back to back, each armed with 
two revolvers and a bowie-knife. They are to 
wheel at the word, approach one another firing, 
fire as fest as they choose, advance as rapidly as 
they choose. Pistols failing, then the grapple 
and the knrfe. As it was arranged, so it was 
done. Reed fired his last charge, but his anta- 
gonist was still erect. The men were within 
six feet of one another, when Reed, bleeding fast 
from several wounds, collected his remaining 
strength, and threw his pistol, with desperate 
force, in his antagonist's face, and felled him with 
the blow. Reed staggered forward and fell upon 
him. Drawing his knife he was seen feeling for 
the heart of his enemy, and having found it, he 
placed the point of the knife over it and tried to 
drive it home. He could not. Then holding 
the knife with one hand he tried to raise himself 
up with the other, so as to fall upon the knife, 
and kill his adversary by mere gravitation. 
This amazing spectacle was too much even for 
the seconds in a southern duel, one of whom 
seized the man by the feet and drew him off. 
It was found that his antagonist was dead where 
he lay ; but Reed recovered to figure in another 
of these savage conflicts, and to die by violence 
in the streets. 

We may ask, with Dr. McCormick's friend, 
" Were such things common in the ' cotton 
kingdom ?' " The doctor's answer will sufiBce : 
"Not to this extent;" but scenes like these 
were common ; and the spirits, the habits, the 
cast of character, which gave rise to them, were 
all but universal What, then, must New 
Orleans have been, the chief city of that king- 
dom, with a police subject to the city govern- 
ment, the city government controlled by 
■ Thugs," and the " Thugs" managed by the 
Spoiler, in alliance with the money-changer? 

We return to the morning of April Sith, on 
which the Union fleet ran past the forts. 

Never before were the people of New Orleans 
so confident of a victorious defense, as when 
ihey read in the newspapers of that morning 
the brief report of General Duncan, touching 
lae twenty-five thousand ineffectual shells. 



Always the city had implicitly relied on its 
defenses; but after six days of vain bombard- 
ment, the confidence of the people was such, 
tliat news from below had ceased to be very in- 
teresting, and every one went about his business 
as though nothing unusual was going on. 

At half-past nine in the morning, late risers 
still dawdling over their coffee and Delta, the 
bell of one of the churches, which had been 
designated as the alarm bell, struck the concerted 
signal of alarm — twelve strokes four times re- 
peated. It was the well-known summons for 
all armed bodies to assemble at their head- 
quarters. There was a wild rush to the news- 
paper bulletin-boards. 

" It is reported that two of the enemy's 
gux-boats have succeeded in passing the 

FORTS." 

This was all that came over the wires before 
Captain Farragut cut them ; but it was enough 
to give New Orleans a dismal premonition of the 
coming catastrophe. The troops flew to their 
respective rendezvous. The city was filled with 
rumors. The whole population was in the 
streets all day. The bulletin-boards were be- 
sieged, but nothing could be extracted from 
them. There were but twenty-eight hundred 
Confederate troops in the city; and General 
Lovell, their commander, had gone down to. the 
forts the day before, and was now galloping 
back along the levee like a man riding a steeple- 
chase. The militia, however, were numerous ; 
conspicuous among them the European Brigade, 
composed of French, English and Spanish bat- 
talions. A fine regiment of free colored men 
was on duty also. But, in the absence of the 
general, and the uncertainty of the intelligence, 
nothing was done or could be done, but assem- 
ble and wait, and increase the general alarm by 
the spectacle of masses of troops. 

The newspapers of the afternoon could add 
nothing to the intelligence of the morning. But, 
at half-past two. General Lovell arrived, bringing 
news that the Union fleet had passed the forts, 
destroyed the Confederate gun-boats, and was 
approaching the city. Then the panic set in. Stores 
were hastily closed, and many were abandoned 
without closing. People left their houses, for- 
getting to shut the front-door, and ran about the 
streets without apparent object. There was a 
fearful beating of drums, and a running together 
of soldiers. Women were seen bonnetless, with 
pistol in each hand, crying: "Burn the city. 
Never mind us. Burn the city." OflBcers rode 
about impressing carts and drays to remove the 
cotton from store-houses to the levee for burning. 
Four millions of specie were carted from the 
banks to the railroad stations, and sent out of 
the city. The consulates were filled with people, 
bringing their valuables to be stored under the 
protection of foreign flags. fraitor Twiggs 
made haste to fly, leaving his swords to the care 
of a young lady — the swords voted him by 
Congress and legislature for services in Mexico. 
Other conspicuous traitors followed his prudent 
example. The authorities, Confederate and mu- 
nicipal, were at their wit's end. Shall the troops 
remain and defend the city, or join the army of 
Beauregard at Corinth ? It was concluded to 
join Beauregard ; at least to get out of the city, 
beyond the guns of the fleet, and so save the 
city from bombardment. Some thousands of tlio 



C3 



NEW ORLEANS WILL NOT SURRENDER. 



nii'ilia, it appears, left with the twenty-eight 
hundred Coafederate troops, choking the avenues 
of escape with multitudinous veliicles. Other 
thousands remained, doffing their uniforms, ex- 
changing garments even with negroes, and re- 
turned to their homes. The regiment of free 
colored men would not leave the city — a fact 
which was remembered, some mo itiis later, to 
their advantage. 

At such a time, could the Thugs be inactive ? 
To keep them in check, to save the city from 
conflagration and plunder, the mayor called upon 
the European Brigade, and i^laced the city under 
their charge. They accepted the duty, repressed 
the tumult, and prevented the destruction of the 
town, threatened alike by frenzied women and 
spoliating rowdies. 

So passed the afternoon of Thursday, April 
24:th. I indicate only the leading features of the 
scene. The reader must imagine the rest, if he 
can. Only those who have seen a large city 
suddenly driven mad with apprehension and 
rage, can form an adequate conception of the 
confusion, the hurry, the bewilderment, the ter- 
ror, the fury, that prevailed. Such denunciations 
of Duncan, of the governor of the state, of the 
general in command ! Such maledictions upon 
the Yankees! Such a &triie between those who 
wished New Orleans to be another Moscow, and 
those who pleaded for the homes of fifty thou- 
sand women and children ! Such a hunting 
down of the few Union men and women, who 
dared to display their exultation ! Such a threat- 
tening of instant lamp-post, or swifter pistol 
bullet, to any who should so much as look at a 
Yankee without a scowl! Woe, woe, to the man 
who should give them the slightest semblance of 
aid or sympathy ! Hail, yellow fever 1 once the 
dreaded scourge of New Orleans ; more welcome 
now than the breezes of October after a summer 
of desolation. Come, Destroyer; come and 
blast these hated foes of a sublime southern 
chivalry! Come, though we also perish I 

During the evening of Thursday, before it was 
known whether the batteries at Chalmette could 
retard the upward progress of the fleet, the 
famous burning of cotton and ships began. 
Fifteen thousand bales of cotton on the levee ; 
kwelve or fifteen cotton ships in the river ; fifteen 
or twenty river steamboats ; an unfinished ram 
of great magnitude ; the dry-docks ; vast heaps 
of coal ; vaster stores of steamboat wood ; miles 
of steamboat wood ; ship timber ; board-yards ; 
whatever was supposed to be of use to Yankees ; 
all was set on fire, and the heavens were black 
with smoke. Hogsheads of sugar and barrels 
of molasses were stove in by hundreds. Parts 
of the levee ran molasses. Thousands of negroes 
and poor white people -were carrying off the 
sugar in aprons, pails, and baskets. And, as if 
this were not enough, the valiant governor of 
Louisiana fled away up the river in the swiftest 
steamboat he could find, spreading alarm as he 
went, and issuing proclamations, calling on the 
planters to burn every bale of cotton in the 
state, which the ruthless invaders could reach. 

"If," said he, "you are resolved to be free; 
if you are worthy of the heroic blood that has 
come down to you through hallowed genera- 
tions; if you have fixed your undimmed eyes 
upon the brightness that is spread out before 
you and your children, and are determined to 



shake away for ever all po.hcal association with 
the venal hordes that now gather like a pesti- 
lence about your fair country ; now, my fellow- 
citizens, is the time to strike." He meant strike 
a light; for he continued thus: "One sparkhng, 
living torch of fire, for one hour, in manly action 
upon eacli other's plantation, and tlie eternal 
seal of southern independence is fired and fixed 
in the great heart of the world." 

This sublime effusion had its effect, supported 
as it was by the presence of the Union fleet in 
the sacred river. Hence, as we are officially 
informed, two hundred and fifty thousand bales 
of cotton were consumed, during the next few 
days, in a region already impoverished by the 
war. Not a pound of this cotton was in danger 
of seizure ; it was safer after the fall of the city 
than before. 

About twelve o'clock, the fleet hove in sight 
of assembled New Orleans. The seven miles of 
crescent levee were one living fringe of human 
beings, who looked upon the coming ships with 
inexpressible sorrow, shame, and anger. Again 
the cry arose, burn the city ; a cry that might 
have been obeyed but for the known presence 
and determination of the European Brigade. 
The people were given over to a strong delusion, 
the result of two generations of De Bow false- 
hood and Calhoun heresy. That fleet, if they 
had but known it, was Deliverance, not Subju- 
gation; it was to end, not begin, the reign of 
terror and of wrong. The time will come when 
New Orleans will know this; when the anniver- 
sary of this day will be celebrated with thank- 
fulness and joy, and statues of Farragut and 
Butler will adorn the public places of the city. 
But before that time comes, what years of wise 
and heroic labor! The fleet drew near and cast 
anchor in the stream, the crowd looking on, 
some in sullen silence, many uttering yells of 
execration, a few secretly rejoicing, all deeply 
moved. 



CHAPTER XL 



NEW ORLEANS WILL NOT SURRENDER. 

Captain Farragut's fleet emerged from the 
hurly-burly of the fight on the morning of the 
24th, into a beautiful and tranquil scene, goon 
after leaving quarantine, the sugar plantations, 
with their villas girdled with pleasant verandas, 
and surrounded with trees, each with its village 
of negro huts near by, appeared on both sides 
of the river. The canes were a foot high, and 
of the brightest April green, rendered more 
vivid by the background of forest a mile from 
the river. Except that a white flag or rag was 
hung from many of the houses, and, in some in- 
stances, a torn and faded American flag, a relic 
of better times, there was little to remind the 
voyagers that they were i:i an enemy's country. 
Here and there a white ffian was seen waving a 
Union flag ; and occasionally a gesture of defi- 
ance or contempt was discerned. The negroes 
who were working in the fields in great num- 
bers — in gangs of fifty, a hundred, two hun- 
dred — these alone gave an unmistakable wel- 
come to the ships. They would come running 
down to the levee in crowds, hoe in hand, and 



NEW ORLEANS WILL NOT SURRENDER. 



69 



toss their battered old hats into the air, and 
shout, sing aud caper in their wild picturesque 
fashion. Other gangs, held under stronger con- 
trol, kept on their work without so much as 
looking at the passing vessels, unless it might 
be that one or two of them, watching their 
chance, would wave a hand or hat, and straight 
to hoe again. 

None of those batteries with which the river 
was said to be "lined," were discovered. At 
three o'clock the ships were off Point la Hache, 
which had been reported to be impassably forti- 
fied. No guns were there. On the contrary, 
on a plantation near by thirty plows were going, 
and two hundred negroes came to the shore in 
the highest glee, to greet the ships. " Hurrah 
for Abraham,'' cried one. At eight o'clock in 
the evening, at a point eighteen miles below the 
city, the fleet came to anchor for the night. 
The city was not more than half that distance 
in a straight line, and consequently, the prodig- 
ious volumes of smoke from the burning cotton 
were plainly seen, exciting endless speculation 
in the minds of ofiBcers and crew. Perhaps 
another Moscow. "Who knows? Nothing is 
too mad for secesh ; secession itself being mad- 
ness. 

At midnight, an alarm! Three large fires 
ahead, concluded to be fire-rafts. Up anchor, 
all ! The vessels cruised cautiously about in the 
river for an hour or two ; Captain Farragut not 
caring to venture higher in an unexplored river, 
said to be lined witli batteries. The fires proved 
to be stationery ; and when the fleet passed 
them the next morning, they were discovered to 
be three large cotton ships burning — their block- 
ade-running ended thus for ever. 

At Chalmette, Jackson's old battle-ground, 
now but three miles below the city, the river 
really was "lined" with batteries; i. e., there 
was a battery on each side of the river, each 
mounting eight or ten old guns. The signal to 
engage them was made the moment they came 
in sight. The leading ships were twenty min- 
utes under fire before they could return it ; but 
then a few broadsides of shell and grape drove 
the unsheltered foe from the works, with the loss 
of one man in the fleet knocked overboard by 
the wind of a ball, and our Herald friend hit 
with a splinter, but not harmed. " It was what 
I call," says Captain Farragut, "one of the little 
elegancies of the profession — a dash and a vic- 
tory," 

Round the bend at noon, into full view of the 
vast sweep of the Crescent City. What a scene I 
Fires along the shore farther than the eye could 
reach ; the river full of burning vessels ; the 
levee Uned with madmen, whose yells and defi- 
ant gestures showed plainly enough what kind 
of welcome awaited the new-comers. A faint 
cheer for the Union, it is said, rose from one 
part of the levee, answered by a volley of pistol- 
shots from the by-slanders. As the fiuet drop- 
ped anchor in the stream, a thunder-storm of 
tropical violence burst over the city, which dis- 
solved large masses of the crowd, and probably 
reduced, in some degree, the frenzy of those 
who remained. 

The banks, the stores, all places of business 
were closed in the city. The mayor, by formal 
proclamation, had now invested the European 
Brigade, under General Juge, "with the duty of 



watching over the public tranquillity ; patrols 
of whom should be treated with respect, and 
obeyed." General Juge and his command saved 
the city from plunder and anarchy — probably 
from universal conflagration. Night and day 
they patrolled tlie city ; and the general, by per- 
sonal entreaty and public proclamation, induced 
some of the butchers and grocers to open their 
shops. A fear of starvation was added to the 
other horrors of the time ; for the country people 
feared to approach the city, and the markets 
were alarmingly bare of provisions. And then 
the Confederate currency— would that be of any 
value under the rule of the United States ? 
"It is as good now as it ever has been," said 
the mayor, in one of his half-dozen proclama- 
tions, "and there is no reason to reject it;" but 
" those who hold Confederate currency, and wish 
to part with it, may have it exchanged for city 
bills, by applying to the Committee of Public 
Safety." Another proclamation called upon 
those who had carried ofl" sugar from the levee 
to bring it back ; another promised a free market 
and abundant provisions on Monday; another 
desired the provision dealers to re-open their 
stores; another urged the people to be calm, 
and trust the authorities with their welfare and 
their honor. 

At one o'clock, the fleet was anchored. The 
rain was falling in torrents, but the crowd near 
the Custom-House was still dense and fierce, the 
rain having melted away the softer elements. 
A boat put ofl' from the flag-ship — man-of-war's 
boats, trim and tidy, crew in iiesh tarpauhns 
and clean shirts, no flag of truce flying. In the 
stern sat three officers, Captain Bailey, second 
in command of the fleet, Lieutenant Perkins, his 
companion in the errand upon which he was 
sent aud Acting-Master Morton in charge of the 
boat. Just after the boat put off, a huge thing 
of a ram Mississippi, pierced for twenty guns, 
a kind of monster Merrimac, or fortified Noah's 
ark, came floating down the river past the fleet, 
wrapped in flames. At another time the spec- 
tacle would have been duly honored b}' the 
fleet, but at that moment every eye was upon 
Captain Bailey's boat, nearing the crowd on the 
levee. 

We all remember the greeting bestowed upon 
this officer. It was by no means that which a 
conquered city usually confers upon the con- 
queror. Deafening cheers for " Jeff. Davis and 
tlie South;" thundering groans for "Lincoln and 
his fleet;" sudden husthug and collaring of two 
or three men who had dared cheer lor the " old 
flag." Captain Bailey and Lieutenant Perkins, 
however, stepped on shore, and announced their 
desire to see the mayor of the city. A few re- 
spectable persons in the crowd had the cournge 
to offer to conduct them to the City Hall, under 
whose escort the officers started on their peril- 
ous journey, followed and surrounded by a 
yelling, infuriated multitude, regardless of the 
pouring rain. " No violence," says a Delia re- 
porter, " was offered to the officers, though cer- 
tain persons who were suspected of tavoring 
their flag and cause were set upon with great 
fury, and roughly handled. On arriving at the 
City Hall, it required the intervention of .«ieveral 
citizens lo prevent violence being oiiered lo the 
rash embassadors of an execrated dynasty aud 
guvernmeut." 



70' 



NEW ORLEANS WILL NOT SURRENDER. 



Mayor Monroe is a gentlemeu of slight form 
and sliort stature ; he was not equal to the ex- 
ceedingiy perplexing situation in wliich he found 
himself. Supported, however, by the presence 
of several of the " city fathers," as he styled 
them, and aided by the talents of Mr. Soule, he 
performed his part in the curious interview with 
tolerable dignity. While the colloquy proceeded, 
the City Hall was surrounded by an ever grow- 
ing crowd, whose clieers for Jeff. Davis and 
groans for " Abe Lincoln " served as loud ac- 
companiment to the mild discord within tlie 
building. Captain Bailej'' and bis companion 
■were duly presented to the mayor, and courteous 
salutations were exchanged between them. 

"I iiave been sent," said the captain, "by 
Captain Farragut, commanding the United States 
fleet, to demand the surrender of the city, and 
the elevation of the flag of the United States 
over the Custom-House, the Mint, the Post- 
Office, and the City Hall." 

" I am not," replied the maj^or, " the military 
commander of the city. I have no authority to 
surrender it, and would not do so if I had. 
There is a military commander now in the city. 
I will send for him to receive and reply to your 
demand. 

A messenger was accordingly dispatched for 
General Lovell, who, though he had sent off his 
troops, remained in the town, a train wailing 
with steam up to convey him and bis staff to 
camp. 

Polite conversation ensued between the oflBcers 
and the gentlemen in the oflBce of the mayor, 
with fitful j'ell accompaniment from the outside 
crowd. The officers praised with warm sinceri- 
ty the stout defense made by the forts, and the 
headlong valor with which the rebel fleet had 
hurled itself against the Union ships. Captain Bai- 
le\' regretted the wholesale destruction of property 
in the city, and said that Captain Farragut de- 
plored it no less than himself. To this tlie 
mayor replied, not with the courtesy of his mon- 
itor, Mr. Soule, that the property being their 
own, the destruction of it did not concern out- 
siders. Captain Bailey remarked that it looked 
to him like biting off your nose to spite your 
face. The mayor intimated that he took a dif- 
ferent view of the subject. 

Cheers from the mob announced the arrival 
of General Lovell, who soon entered tlie office. 
The officers were presented to him. 

"I am General Lovell," said he, " of the 
armj' of the Confederate States, commanding 
this department." 

Whereupon he shook hands with the Uniou 
officers. Captain Bailey repeated the demand 
with which he had been charged, adding that 
he was instructed by Captain Farragut to say, 
that he had come to protect private property and 
personal rights, and had no design to interfere 
with any private rights, and especially not with 
negro property. 

General Lovell replied that he would not sur- 
render the city, nor allow it to be surrendered ; 
that he was overpowered on the water by a su- 
perior squadron, but that he intended to tight on 
land as long as he could muster a soldier : he 
had marched all his armed men out of the city; 
had evacuated it ; and if they desired to shell 
the town, destroying women and children, they 
could do so. It it was to avoid this that he had 



marched his troops beyond the city limits, but a 
large number even of the women of the city had 
begged him to remain and defend the city even 
against shelling. He did not think he would be 
justified in doing so. He would therefore re- 
tire and leave the city authorities to pursue what 
course they should think proper. 

Captain Bailey said, that nothing was farther 
from Captain Farragut's thoughts than to shell 
a defenseless town filled with women and child- 
ren. On the contrary, he had no hostile inten- 
tions toward New Orleans, and regretted ex- 
tremely the destruction of property that had 
already occurred. 

" It was done by my authority, sir," inter- 
rupted General Lowell. . He might have added 
that his own cotton was the first to be fired. 

It was then concluded that the Union officers 
should return to the fleet, and the mayor would 
lay the matter before the common council, and 
report the result to Captain Farragut. Captain 
Bailc}' requested protection during their return 
to the levee, the crowd being evidently in no 
mood to allow their peaceful departure. The 
general detailed two of his officers to accompany 
them, and went himself to harangue the multi- 
tude. Mr. Soule also addressed the people, 
counseling moderation and dignity. The naval 
officers meanwhile were conducted to the rear of 
the building, where a carriage was procured for 
tliem, and they were driven rapidly to their 
boat. T4ie crew were infinitely relieved by their 
arrival, for during the long period of their 
absence, the crowd had assailed them with every 
epithet of abuse, to which the only possible re- 
ply was silence. The officers stepped on board, 
and were soon alongside of the flag-ship, the 
parting yell of the mob still ringing in their ears. 
At the same time General Lovell was making 
his way to the cars, and was seen in New Or- 
leans no more. 

Captain Farragut was a little amused and very 
much puzzled at the singular position in which 
he found himself. There was nothing further to 
be done, however, until he heard from the 
mayor. AH hands were tired out. New Orleans, 
too, was exhausted with the excitement of the 
last three days. So, both the fitet and the city 
enjoyed a night more tranquil than either had 
known for some time. " The city was as peace- 
ful and quiet as a country hamlet — much quieter 
than in ordinary limes," said the Picayune the 
next morning. 

April 26th, Saturday, at half-past six, a boat 
from shore reached the flag-ship, contaming the 
mayor's secretary and chief of police, bearers oi 
a message from the mayor. The mayor said the 
common council would meet at ten that morning, 
the result of whose deliberations should be 
promptly submitted to (Japtain Farragut. The 
captain, not relishing the delay, still le.ss the 
events of j'esterday, sent a letter to the mayor, 
recapitulating those events, and again stating 
his determination to respect private rights. "I, 
therelbre demand of you," said the flag-officer, 
"as its representative, the unqualified surrender 
of the city, and that the emblem of the sov- 
ereignty of the United States be hoisted over 
the City Hall, Mint, and Custom-House, by 
meridian this day, and all flags and other em- 
blems of sovereignty other than that of the 
United States be removed from all the public 



NEW ORLEANS WILL NOT SURRENDER. 



71 



buildings by that. hour. I particularly request 
that you shall exorcise your authority to quell 
disturbances, restore order, and call upon all the 
good people of New Orleans to return at once 
to their avocations; audi particularly demand 
that no person shall bo molested in person or 
l^roperty for senliments of loyalty to their 
government. I shall speedily and severely 
punish auy person or persons who shall commit 
such outrages as were witnessed yesterday, of 
armed men firing upon helpless women and 
children for giving expression to their pleasure at 
witnessing the ' old flag.' " 

This demand of Captain Parragut, that the 
enemy should themselves hoist the UntDu flag, 
gave the mayor, aided by Mr. Soule, an oppor- 
tunity to make an advantageous reply. 

The oomiuoa council met in the course of the 
morning. Besides relating the interview with 
Captain Bailey, the mayor favored the council 
with his opinion upon the same. " My own 
opinion is," said he, " that as a civil magistrate, 
possessed of no military power, I am incompetent 
to perform a militarj' act, such as the surrender 
of the city to a hostile for«:e ; and that it would 
be proper to say, iu reply to a demand of that 
character, that we are without military pro- 
tection, that the troops have withdrawn from 
the city, that we are consequently incapable of 
making any resistance, and that therefore, we 
can ofler no obstruction to the occupation of the 
Mint, the Oustom-House and the Post-Ofl&ce ; 
that these are the property of the Confederate 
government ; that we have no control over them ; 
and that all acts involving a transfer of property 
must be performed by the invading force — by 
the enemy themselves: that we' yield to physical 
force alone, and tliat we maintain our allegiance 
to the Confederate government. Beyond this, a 
due respect for our dignity, our rights, and the 
flag of our country, does not, I think, permit us 
to go." 

Upon receiving this message, the common 
council unauimously adopted the following reso- 
lutions : 

" Whereas, the common council of the city of 
New Orleans, having been advised by the mili- 
tary authorities that the city is indefensible, de- 
clare that no resistance will be made to the forces 
of the United States ; 

" Resolved, that the sentiments expressed in 
the message of his honor the mayor to the com- 
mon council, are in perfect accordance with the 
sentiments entertained by the entire population 
of this metropolis ; and that the mayor be 
respectfully requested to act in the spirit mani- 
fested by the message." 

"While waiting for the deliberations of the 
council, Captain Farragut went up the river, 
seven miles, to Carrolton, where batteries had 
been erected to defend the city from an attack 
from above. He found them deserted, the guns 
spiked, and the gun-carriages burning. 

April 27th, Suuday. — An eventful day; to 
one unhappy man, a fatal day. The early 
morning brought the mayor's reply to Captain 
Farragut : " I am no military man, and possess 
no autliority beyond that of executing the mu- 
nicipal laws of the city of New Orleans. It 
would be presumptuous in me to attempt to lead 
an army to the field, if I had one at command ; 
and I know siill less how to surrender an unde- 



fended place, held, as it is, at the mercy of your 
gunners and your mortars. To surrender such 
a jjlace were an idle and unmeaning ceremouy. 
The city is yours by the power of brutal force, 
not by my choice or the consent of its inhab- 
itants. It is for j'ou to determine what will be 
the fate that awaits us here. As to hoisting any 
flag not of our own adoption and allegiance, let 
me say to you that the man lives not in our 
midst whose hand and heart would not be par- 
alyzed at the mere thought of such an act; nor 
could I find in my entire constituency so des- 
perate and wretched a renegade as would dare 
10 profane with his hand the sacred emblem of 
our aspirations." With more of similar purport. 
The substance of the mayor's meaning seemed 
to be : " Come on shore and hoist what flag you 
please. Don't ask ma' to do your flag raising." 
A rather good reply in the substance of it. 
Slightly impudent, perhaps ; but men who are 
talking from behind a bulwark of fifty thousand 
women and children, can be impudent if they 
please. 

The commander of the fleet refused to confer 
farther with the mayor ; but, with regard to the 
flag hoisting, determined to take him at his word. 
Captain Morris, of the Pensacola, the ship that 
lay off the Mint, was ordered to send a party 
ashore, and hoist the flag of the United States 
upon that edifice. At eight in the morning, the 
stars and stripes floated over it once more. The 
ofiBcer commanding the party warned the by- 
standers that the guns of the Pensacola would 
certainly open fire upon the building if any one 
should be seen molesting the flag. "Without 
leaving a guard to protect it, he returned to his 
ship, and the howitzers in the main-top of the 
Pensacola, loaded with grape, were aimed at the 
flag-staff, and the guard ordered to fire the mo- 
ment any one should attempt to haul down the 
flag. I think it was an error to leave t/lie flag 
unprotected. A company of marines could have 
kept the mob at bay ; would have prevented the 
shameful scenes that followed. 

At eleven o'clock, the crews of all the ships 
were assembled on deck for prayers : " to render 
thanks," as the order ran, " to Almighty God for 
His great goodness and mercy in permitting us 
to pass through the events of the last two days 
with so little loss of life and blood." As the 
clouds threatened rain, the gunner of the Pensa- 
cola, just before taking his place for the cere- 
mony, removed from the guns the " wafers" by 
which they are discharged. One look-out man 
was left in the main-top, who held the strings of 
the howitzers in his hand, and kept a sliarp eya 
upon the flag-staff of the Mint. The solemn 
service proceeded for twenty minutes, with such 
emotions on the part of those brave men as may 
be imagined, not related. 

A discharge from the howitzers overhead, 
startled the crew from their devotions! They 
rushed to quarters. Every eye sought the flag- 
staff of the Mint. Four men were seen on the 
roof of the building, who tore down the flag, 
hurried away with it, and disappeared. "With- 
out orders, by an impulse of the moment, the 
cords of the guns all along the broadside were 
snatched at by eager hands. Nothing but the 
ciiauce removal of the wafers saved the city 
from a tearful scene of destruction and slaughter. 
The exasperation of the fleet at this audacioua 



72 



NEW ORLEANS WILL NOT SURRENDER. 



act, was such that, at the moment, an order to 
shell the town would have seemed a natural and 
proper one. 

New Orleans hailed it with vociferous accla- 
matioas. "The names of the party," said tlio 
Picayune of the next morning, " tliat distin- 
guished themselves by gallantl}" tearing down 
the flag that had been surreptitiously hoisted, 
we learn, are W. B. Mumford, who cut it loose 
from the flag-staff amid tlie shower of grape, 
Lieutenant N. Holmes, Sergeant Burns ami 
James Reed. They deserve great credit for 
their patriotic act. New Orleans in tliis hour 
of adversity, by the calm dignity she displays in 
the presence of the enem}^ by the proof she 
gives of her unflinching determination to sustain 
to the uttermost tlie righteons cause for which 
she has done so much and made such great sacri- 
fices, by her serene endurance undismayed of 
the evil which afflicts her, and iier abiding con- 
fidence in the not distant coming of better and 
brighter days — of speedy deliverance from the 
enemy's toils — is showing a briglit example to 
her sister cities, and proving herself, in all 
respects, worthy of the proud position she has 
achieved. We glory of being a citizen of this 
great metropolis." 

"Calm dignity I" The four men having secured 
their prize, trailed it in the mud of the streets amid 
the yells of the mob ; mounted with it upon a 
furniture car and paraded it about the city with 
fife and drum ; tore it, at last, into shreds, and 
distributed the pieces among the crowd. Such 
was the calm dignity of New Orleans. Such 
tlie valor of ruffians protected by a rampart of 
fifty thousand women and children. 

Captain Farragut was equally indignant and 
embarrassed. Seldom has a naval commander 
found himself in a position so beset with con- 
tradictions — defied and insulted by a town that 
lay at his mercy. A few hours after these 
events. General Butler arrived to share the ex- 
asperation of the fleet and join in tlie counsels of 
its chief. He advised the captain to threaten 
the city with bombardment, and to order away 
the women and children. Captain Farragut, in 
part, adopted the measure, and sent a commu- 
nication to the mayor warning him of the peril 
which the city incurred by such scenes as those 
of Sunday morning. He informed him of the 
danger of drawing from the fleet a destructive fire 
by tlie spontaneous action of the men. " The elec- 
tion is with j^ou," he concluded, " but it becomes 
my duty to notify you to remove the women and 
children from the city witliin fortj'^-eight hours, 
if I have rightly understood your determination." j 
The authorities of the city chose to interpret this 
note as a formal announcement of a bombard- j 
inent at the expiration of tlie specified period. 
So, at least, they represtnted it to Captain De 
•Jlouet, commanding a Frencli man of war whicli 
had just arrived before the city. That officer 
thought it his duty to demand a longer time for 
the removal of the women and children. "Sent 
by my government," he wrote to Captain Far- 
ragut, '• to protect the persons and property of 
'ts citizens, who are here to the number of thirty 
Uiousand, I regret to learn at tliis moment that 
3-ou have accorded a delay of forty-eight hours 
for the evacuation of the city by the women and 
children. T venture to observe to you that this 
hort delay is ridiculous; and, in the name of 



my government T oppose it. If it is your reso- 
lution to bombard tlie city, do it; but I wish to 
state that you will have to account for the bar- 
barous act to the power which I represent. In 
any event, I demand sixty days for the evacu- 
ation." 

Captain Farragut and General Butler had 
visited Captain De Clouet on his arrival, and had 
received from him polite congratulations upon 
the succe.«s of the expedition. It was no fault 
of his that Captain Farragut's notification was 
so egregiously misunderstood. 

General Butler meanwhile perceiving that 
light-draft steamers were not to be had, and that 
nothing effectual could be done without landing 
a force in tliie eity, hastened down the river to 
attempt the reduction of the forts with such 
means as he could command. Before leaving, 
however, he had the satisfaction of receiving the 
spy, engaged at Washington many weeks before, 
who had escaped in the confusion, and brought 
full details of the condition of the city. Mr. 
Summers, too, once recorder of New Orleans, 
fled on board one of the ships from the violence 
of a mob in whose hearing he had declared his 
attachment to the Union. A lady, also, came 
off, and delivered] a paper of intelligence and 
congratulation. 

On his way down the river. General Butler 
met the glad tidings of the surrender of the forts, 
and had the pleasure, on the 28th, of walking 
over them with Captain Porter among the joyful 
troops. Colonel Jones, of the Twenty-sixth 
Massachusetts, was appointed to command the 
Garrison, and Lieutennat Weitzel began forth- 
with to put the forts in repair. All the rest of 
the troops were ordered up the river with the 
utmost speed. General Phelps was already 
at the forts, and tlie transports from Sable Island 
were making their wa\' under General Williara.s 
to the mouth of the river. The news of tho 
surrender of the forts, which reached the fleet 
on Monday, relieved Captain Farragut from em- 
barrassment. He could now afford to wait, if 
New Orleans could, though llie fli^et still beheld 
with impatience the flaunting of the rebel flags. 
General Duncan, that day, harrangued the crowd 
upon the levee, declaring, " with tears in his 
eyes," that nothing but tiie mutiny of part of his 
command could have induced him to surrender. 
But for that, he could and would have held out 
for months. "He cried like a child," says one 
report. The tone of the authorities appeared to 
be somewhat lowered by the news. The}' dared 
not formally disclaim the exploit of Mumford 
and his comrades ; but Captain Farragut was- 
privately assured that the removal of the flags 
from the mint was the unauthorized act of a few 
individuals. On the 29th, Captain Bell, with a 
hundred marines, landed on the levee, marched 
into the city, hauled down the Confederate flag 
from the Mint and Custom-House, and hoisted, 
in its stead the flag of the United States. Cap- 
tain Bell locked the Custom- Mouse and took the 
keys to his ship. These flags remained, though 
the marines were withdrawn before evening. 

The work of the European Brigade was ap- 
proaching a conclusion. The portion of it call- 
ed the British Guard, composed of unnatural- 
ized Englishmen — uimatufq] Englishmen rathei 
— voted at their armory, ■. day or two after, tc 
send their weapons, accoutcrments and uniforrat 



LANDING IN NEW ORLEANS. 



r3 



to General Beauregard's army, as a slight token 
of their afleetion for the Confederate States. 
Some of these " neutral" gentlemen had occa- 
sion to regret this step before the month of May 
was ended. 

There was a general coming up the river, who 
]iad the peculiarity of feeling toward the rebel- 
lion as the rebel leaders felt toward the gov- 
ernment they had betrayed. He hated it. He 
meant to do his part toward putting it down by 
the strong hand, not conciliating it by insincere 
palaver. The reader is requested to bear in 
mind this peculiarity, for it is the key to the 
understanding of General Butler's administra- 
tion. Consider always tiiat his attachment to 
the Union and the flag was of the same intense 
.und uncompromising nature, as the devotion of 
South Carolinians to the cause of the Confed- 
eracy. His was indeed a nobler devotion, but 
in mere warmth and entireness. it resembled the 
zeal of secessionists. He meant well to the peo- 
ple of Louisiana; he did well by them; but it 
was his immovable resolve that the ruling power 
in Louisiana henceforth should' be the United 
States, which had bought, defended, protected, 
and enriched it. Think what secessionists would 
have done in New Orleans, if it had remained 
true to the Union, and fallen into their hands in 
the second year of the war. That General But- 
ler did ; only with exactest justice, with ideal 
purity ; employing all right methods of concilia- 
tion ; rigorous only to secure the main object — 
the absolute, the unquestioned supremacy of the 
United States. 



CHAPTER xn. 

LANDING IN NEW ORLEANS. 

The troops had a joyful trip up the river 
among the verdant sugar- fields, welcomed, as 
the fleet had been, by capering negroes. The 
transport Mississippi, witii her old complement 
of fourteen hundred men, and Mrs. Butler on 
the quarter-deck, hove in sight of the forts at 
sunset on the last daj' of April. The forts were 
covered all over with blue-coated soldiers, who 
paused in their investigations to cheer the arriv- 
ing vessels, and, especially, the Lady who had 
borne them company in so many perils. It was 
an animated and glorious scene, illumined by the 
setting sun ; one of those intoxicating moments 
which repa}^ soldiers for months of fatigue and 
waiting. The general came on board, and, at 
midnight, the transport steamers started for the 
city. At noon on the 1st of May, the Missis- 
sippi lay alongside the levee at New Orleans. 

A crowd rapidly gathered ; but it was by no 
means as turbulent or noisy as that which had 
howled at Captain Bailey five days before. There 
were women among them, many of whom ap- 
peared to be nurses carrying children. Mulatto 
women with baskets of cakes and oranges were 
also seen. Voices were frequently heard calling, 
for " Picayune Butler," who was requested to 
" sliow himself," and ''come ashore." The gen- 
eral, who is fond of a joke, requested Major 
Strong to ascertain if any of the bands could 
play the lively melody to which the mob had 
called his attention. Unluckily, none of the 



bandmasters possessed the music; so the gen- 
eral was obliged to forego his joke, and fall back 
upon Yankee Doodle and the Star Spangled 
Banner. Others of the crowd cried : •' You'll 
never see home again." " Yellow Jack will 
have you before long." " Halloo, epaulets, lend 
us a picayune." With divers other remarks of 
a chafing nature, alternating with maledictions. 
General Butler waited upon Captain Farragut, 
and heard a narrative of recent events. 'J'he 
general announced his determination to land 
forthwith, and Captain Farragut notified the 
mayor of this resolve; adding that he should 
hold no farther correspondence with the authori- 
ties of New Orleans, but gladly yielded the situ- 
ation to the commander of the army. Returning 
to the Mississippi, General Butler directed the 
immediate disembarkation of the troops, and the 
operation began about four o'clock in the after- 
noon. A company of the Thirty-first Massachu- 
setts landed on the extensive platform raised 
above the levee for the convenient loading of 
cotton, and, forming a line, slowly pressed back 
the crowd, at the point of the bayonet, until 
spiice enough was obtained for the regiment to 
(brm. When the Thirty-first had all landed, 
they marched down the cotton platform to the 
levee, and along the levee to De Lord street, 
where they halted. The Fourth Wisconsin was 
then disembarked, after which the processiou 
was formed in the order following: 

First, as pioneer and guide, marched Lieuten- 
ant Henry Weigel, of Baltimore, aid to the gen- 
eral, who was familiar with the streets of the 
city, and now rose from a sick bed to claim the 
fulfillment of General Butler's promise that he, 
and he only, should guide the troops to the Cus- 
tom-House. 

Next, the drum-corps of the Thirty-first Mas- 
sachusetts. Behind these. General Butler and 
his staft' on foot, no horses having yet been 
landed, a file of the Thirty-first marching on 
each side of them. Then Captain Everett's bat- 
tery of artillery, with whom marched Captain 
Kensel, chief of artillery to the expedition. The 
Thirty-first followed, under Colonel 0. P. Good- 
ing. Next, General Williams and his staff, pre- 
ceded by the fine band of the Fourth Wisconsin, 
and followed bj^ that regiment under Colonel 
Paitie. The same orders were given as on the 
march into Baltimore: silence; no notice to be 
taken of mere words ; if a shot were fired from 
a house, halt, arrest inmates, destroy house; if 
fired upon from the crowd, arrest the man if 
possible, but not fire into the crowd unless abso- 
lutely necessary for self-defense, and then not 
without orders. 

At five the procession moved, to the music of 
the Star Spangled Banner. The crowd surged 
along the pavements on each side of the troops, 
struggling chiefly to get a sight of the general : 
crying out: " Where is the d — d old rascal?" 
" There he goes, G — d d — n him 1" " I see ih'j 
d — d old villain !" To which were added such 
outcries, as " Shiloh," " Bull Run," " Hurrah for 
Beauregard!" "Go home, you d — d Yankees." 
From some windows, a mild hiss was bestowed 
upon the troops, who marched steadily on, 
looking neither to the right hand nor to the left. 
The general, not having a musical ear, was ob- 
served to be chiefly anxious upon the point of 
keeping step to the music — a feat that haJ never 



74 



LANDING IN NEW ORLEANS. 



become ensy to him, ofien as be had attempted 
it in the streets of Lowell. And so they marched ; 
along the levee to Poydras street ; Poydras street 
to St. Charles street ; past the famous hotel, 
closed and deserted now, though alive witii five 
hundred inmates three days before; along St. 
•Charles street to Canal street and the Custom- 
House — that vast, unfinished, roofless structnre, 
upon vfhich the United States had expended so 
many millions, one Beauregard being engineer. 

The troops surrounded the edifice ; Captain 
Kensel posted his artillery so as to command the 
adjacent streets, and the general ordered the 
Thirty-first to enter and occupy the building, 
but Captain Bell had locked the door and put 
the key into his pocket. The door was forced, 
therefore, and by six o'clock, the Thirty-first 
\vas lodged in the second story, making prep- 
arations for the evening meal. Strong guards 
were posted at all needful points. The general 
4ind his staff then returned to the levee, and 
went on board the Mississippi for the night. The 
Twelfth Connecticut, Colonel Deming, bivouacked 
upon the levee near tlie ship, happy to lie down 
once more under the stars, after being so long 
huddled in a transport ship. The evening was 
Tvarm and serene, and tlie city was again as 
still as a country hamlet. General Phelps came 
on shore at twilight, and walked about the city 
unattended and unmolested. Nay, he reported 
that the people whom he '• .4 spoken to answer- 
•ed his inquiries with politeness, despite his 
uniform. " You didn't mention your name ; did 
you, General?" asked an officer. " No," replied 
he, laughing; " no one asked it." 

That evening, General Butler having put the 
finishing touches to his proclamation, sent two 
officers of his staff to the office of the True Delia, 
to get it printed as a handbill. He forbore to 
demand its insertion in the paper, unwilling to 
bring upon any one establishment the odium 
that its insertion could not but excite. In all 
ways, he was trying the suaviier in modo, before 
resorting to the fortiter in re. The officers 
reached the office at ten, after the proprietor and 
■editors had gone home. The foreman in charge 
replied, that in the absence of the proprietor, the 
document could not be printed. The ofiScers 
returned to the ship, reported, and received 
farther orders. At eight the next morning, the 
same oflQcers were again at the office of the True 
Delta, where they found the chief proprietor, 
and repeated their request. 

No; the True Delta oS^cq could not think of 
printing General Butler's proclamation. 

The officers quietly intimated that, in that 
case, they would be under the painful necessity 
of seizing the office, and using the materials 
therein for the purpose of printing it. Tlie pro- 
prietor objected. He said that the selection of 
bis establishment for the printing of such a 
manuscript, v ^s invidious and unjust; it looked 
as if tlie design was to make him and his col- 
leagues obnoxious and loathsome to their fellow- 
citizens. "I can not resist," said he, " the seizure 
of the office, but, under no circumstances, shall 
it be -sed for the purpose designated, with my 
approval or conseut." 

The officers bowed and retired. After two 
hours' absence, they returned with a file of 
soldiers, armed and equipped, who drew up bo- 
■fore the building. Half a dozen of them entere ! 



the printing-office, where they laid aside their 
weapons of war, and took up the peaceful im- 
plements of their trade. The proclamation was 
soon in type, and a few copies printed; enough 
for tlie general's immediate purpose. The pro- 
prietor himself testified, in the paper of the next 
day, that the troops effected their purpose and 
retired, " without offering any offense in language 
or behavior, or manifesting the least desire to 
interfere with the regular business of the office, 
or to injure or derange its property." It would 
have been better if he could have refrained from 
other comment. But he did not. He added: 
" As this first step of the commander of the 
federal troops in possession of this city, is indic- 
ative of a determination, on his part, to subject 
us to a supervision utterly subversive of the 
character of fearless pal riotism which the True 
Delta has ever maintained, we will promise this 
much, and we will perform it, namely, to sus- 
pend our publication, even if our last crust 
be sacrificed by the act, rather than molt one 
feather of that independence which, in presence 
of every discouragement, and danger, we have 
ever made our honest boast. We have no favors 
to ask ; we have never asked or desir>.d any from 
any party; and we are prepared to stand or fall 
with the fortunes of our adopted Louisiana. 

General Butler ordered the suspension of the 
True Delta until farther orders. The proprietors, 
however, yielded to the inevitable, promised 
comphance with the general's requisitions, and 
obtained, on tlie next day, permission to resume 
the publication of the paper. It was not, how- 
ever, till the 6th of May, that the proclamation 
appeared in its columns. The other newspapers 
took the hint, and exhibited, in their comments 
upon passing events, a blending of the politic 
with the audacious, that was ingenious and 
amusing, but not always ingenious enough, as 
General Butler occasionally reminded them. 
Editing a secession newspaper in New Orleans, 
during the next eight months, was an affair 
which could be described as " ticklisli;" rather 
more so, than conducting a journal in the 
Orleans interest, under the nose of Louis Bona- 
parte. 

The second day of the occupation of the city 
was crowded with events of the highest in- 
terest. 

The landing of the troops was resumed with 
the dawn. Colonel Deming encamped his fine 
regiment in Lafayette Square in front of the City 
Hall. Other regiments were posted in conve- 
nient localities. Troops were landed in Algiers 
on the opposite bank of the river, and the rail- 
road terminating there was seized, with its cars 
and buildings. General Phelps went up the 
river several miles in the Saxon, to reconnoiter, 
and select a site for a camp above the city. Cap- 
tain Everett was busy extracting the spikes 
from the cannon lying about the Custom-Hou.se, 
and preparing to mount some of them in and 
upon it. He cast an inquiring and interested 
eye upon the eight hundred bells — church bells, 
school bells, plantation bells, hand bells, cow 
bells — which had been sent to New Orleans 
upon General Beauregard's requisition ; some of 
which now call the children of New England to 
school ; others, factory girls to their labor ; 
others, rural congregations to church ; for they 
were all sold at auction, sent to the Nouh, and 



LANDING IN NEW ORLEANS. 



75 



distributed over the country. The quartermaster 
to the expedition had a world of trouble with the 
draj'men of tne city, whom he needed for trans- 
porting the tents and baggage. Xot one of them 
dared, not many of them wished, to serve him. 
He was obliged to compel their assistance at the 
point of the pistol. Everythiug seized for the 
use of the troops, on this day and on all days, 
was either paid for when taken, or a receipt 
given therefor which was equivalent to gold. 
The behavior of the troops was faultless. No 
resident of New Orleans was harmed or insulted. 
None complained of harm or insult. A stranger 
would have supposed, from the quiet demeanor 
of the troops, and the arrogant air of the people, 
that the soldiers were prisoners in an enemy's 
town, not conquerors in a captured one. For the 
most part, the troops held no intercourse what- 
ever with the inhabitants. It was, indeed, 
perilous in the extreme, for a resident of the 
city to speak to an old friend, if that friend wore 
the uniform of the United States. Major Bell 
mentions that he met several old aequaiiitaaces 
about the city, but they either gave him the cut 
direct, or else bestowed a hurried, furtive .salu- 
tation, and passed rapidly on. Another officer 
reports that on accosting an acquaintance, the 
* gentleman said, in an anxious undertone, 
••Don't speak lo me, or I shall have my head i 
blown oti'." 

A gentlemen connected with the expedition, i 
but not in uniform,* tells me that he strolled into 
a market that morning, and bought a cup of coffee, | 
for which he gave a gold dollar, and received in I 
change nineteen dirty car-tickets, part of the es- 
tablished currency of the city. I 
Quarters were required for the commanduag 
general and his stafi'. What could they be but 
the St. Charles hotel, vacated five days before 
by General Lovell? Major Strong, Colonel 
French, and Major Bell, accompanied by Mr. 
Glenn, formerly a resident of New Orleans, were 
dispatched, early in the morning, to make the 
preliminary arrangements. They found the 
building closed. Going round to the ladies' en- 
trance they gained admission to the famous ro- 
tunda — bar-room and slavemart, scene of count- 
less " difiScullies " and chivalric assassinations. 
There they met a son of one of the proprietors, 
to whom they stated their wishes. He replied, 
that botli the proprietors were absent ; and as 
to his giving up the iiotel lo General Butler, his 
head would be shot off before he could reach the 
next corner if he should do it. He declared 
that waiters would not dare to wait upon them, 
nor cooks to cook for them, nor porters to carry 
for them. Moreover, tiiere were no provisions 
JO be had in the market; he did not see what 
could be got for them bej-ond army rations. 
These objections were oftered by the young 
gentleman with the utmost politeness of man- 
ner. Major Strong observed, with equal suav- 
itj', that he need give himself no concern 
with regard to giving up the hotel. In the 
name of General Butler, they would venture to 
take it. And as to the lack of provisions, tbey 
were used to army rations, had found them suffi- 
cient, and could make them do for an indefinite 
period. With regard to waiters and cooks, the 

* Mr. Samuel F. Olenn, afterward dark of the provost- 
eourt. 



army of occupation were chiefly men of the Yan- 
kee persuasion, who were accustomed to wait on 
themselves, and could do a little of everything, 
from cooking upward. The young gentleman had 
nothing farther to offer, and so the St. Charles 
became the head-quarters of the army. The 
general arrived in the course of the morning, 
and established his office in one of the ladies' 
parlors. Mrs. Butler still remained on board the 
Mississippi. 

The three officers and Mr. Glenn next pro- 
ceeded to the City Hall, in search of the mayor. 
They found that public functionary, after some 
delay. They informed him, with all possible 
courtesy, that General Butler, commanding the 
department of the Gulf, had established his head- 
quarters at the St. Charles hotel, where he 
would be happy to confer with the mayor and 
council of New Orleans, at two o'clock on that 
day. The reply of the mayor was to the efi'ect, 
that his place of business was at the City Hall, 
where any gentleman who had business with 
him could see him during office hours. Colonel 
French politely intimated that that was not an 
answer likelj^ to satisfy the commanding general, 
and expressed a hope that the mayor, on re- 
flection, would not complicate a state of affairs, 
already embarrassing enough, by raising ques- 
tions of etiquette. General Butler'was well dis- 
posed toward New Orleans and its authorities ; 
he merely desired to come to a clear under- 
standing with tiiem as to the future government 
of the city. The officers retired. The mayor, 
upon reflection, concluded to wait upon the gen- 
eral. At two o'clock, accompanied by Mr. 
Soule and a considerable party of friends, highly 
respectable gentlemen of the city, lie sat face to 
to face with General Butler in the ladies' parlor 
of the St. Charles. 

The interview was destined to be interrupted 
and abortive. The seizure of the St. Charles 
hotel appeared to have rekindled the passions of 
the populace, who surrounded the building in a 
dense mass, filling all the open space adjacent. 
A cannon was posted at each of the corners of the 
building; a regiment surrounded it; and the 
brave General Williams was in command. But 
it seemed as if the quiet demeanor of the 
troops, since the landing of the evening before, 
had been misinterpreted by the mob, who grew 
fiercer, louder and bolder, as the day wore on. 
The mayor and his party had not been long in 
the presence of General Butler, when an aide- 
de-camp rushed in and said : 

'"General Williams orders me to say, that he 

fears he will not be able to control the mob." 

General Butler, in his serenest manner replied ; 

" Give my compliments to General Williams, 

and tell him, if he finds he cannot control the mob, 

to open upon them with artUlery." 

The mayor and his friends sprang to their feet 
in consternation. 

" Don't do that, general," exclaimed the mayor 
" Why not, gentlemen ?" said the general. 
The mob must be controlled. We can't have a 
disturbance in the street." 

" Shall I go out and speak to the people?" 
Lsked the mayor. 

"Anything you please, gentlemen," replied 
General Butler. " 1 only insist that order be 
maintained in the public streets." 

The mayor and other gentlemen addressed the 



LANDING IX NEW ORLEANS. 



crowd ; and, as their remarks were enforced by tlie 
rumor of General Butler's order, there was a tem- 
porary lull in the storm. The crowd remained, 
however; vast, fierce and sullen. 

The interview having been resumed, the may- 
or was proceeding to descant, in the high-flown 
rhetoric of the South, upon General Butler's for- 
mer advocacy of the rights of the sontliern states. 
The South had looked upon him as its special 
friend and champion, etc 

"Stop, sir," said the general. "Let me set 
you right on that point at once. I was always 
1 friend of southern rights, bat an enemy of 
soutb.ern wrongs." 

The conversation was going on in an amicable 
strain, when another aid entered the apartment, 
Lieutenant Kinsman, of General Butler's staff, 
who requested a word with the general. 

This oflScer had been sent to the fleet that 
morning in search of telegraphic operators. On 
board the Mississippi (the man-of-war, not the 
transport steamer), he was accosted by Judge 
Summers, who had sought refuge on board the 
ship, as we have before related. The unhappy 
judge, who was anxious to get to the city, re- 
quested Lieutenant Kinsman to take him on 
shore, and give him adequate protection against 
the mob, who, he said, would tear him limb from 
limb, if they should cntch him alone. The lieu- 
tenant, who had left the city perfectly quiet, was 
disposed to make light of the danger ; but said 
he could go on shore with him if he chose, and 
he would endeavor to get him safe to the St. 
Charles. On reaching the levee. Lieutenant 
Kinsman impressed a hack into his service, and 
the two passengers were started for the hotel. 
Unluckily, the ex-recorder is a man of gigantic 
stature — six feet five, and of corresponding mag- 
nitude ; a man of such pronounced peculiarity of 
appearance, that even if he had never sal on the 
bench and thus become familiar to the eyes of 
scoundrels, he must have been known by sight 
to all who frequented the streets of the city. 
He was instantly recognized. A. crowd gathered 
round the carriage, hooting, yelling, cursing; 
new hundreds rushing in from every street ; for 
all the men in the city were idle and abroad. 
Several times the carriage came to a stand ; but 
Lieutenant Kinsman, pistol in hand, ordered the 
driver to go on, and kept hiai to his work, until 
they reached the troops guarding the hotel, 
where both succeeded in alighting and entering 
the building unharmed. 

Judge Summers was thoroughly unnerved, as 
most men would have been in the same circum- 
stances. A mob is of all wild beasts the most 
cowiirdly, the most easily managed by a man 
that is uiiscarable by pliantoms. The mob that 
attacked the Tribune office, last July, was scat- 
tered by the report of one pistol. I saw it done. 
Never have I seen the square in front of the 
building i?o bare of people as it was in ten seconds 
after that solitary pistol was fired. But a mob 
is, at the same time, the most terrific thing to 
look at, especial]}' if its vulgar and savage eye is 
6xed upon yau, that can be imagined. Mr. 
Summers felt unsafe, even in the hotel. "Give 
me some protection," said he; "they'll tear me 
all to pieces if they get in here ;" and it looked, 
at the time, as if tlie mob would get in. 

Hence it was, that Lieutenant Kinsman inter- 
rupted the general, and asked a word with him. 



General Butler came out, and heard the Iiea» 
tenant's report. The ex-recorder said there was 
no place in the St. Charles where he co-uldbe safe. 

"Well, then," said the general, "there's the 
Custom-House over yonder ; that will hold you. 
You can go there, if yon choose." 

"But how can I get there? The mob will 
tear me f) pieces." 

The general reflected a moment. Then said, 
assuming all the "major-general commanding:" 

" We may as well settle this question now a.'t 
at any other time. Lieutenant Kinsman, take 
this man over to the Custom-House. Take 
what force you require. If any one molests or 
threatens you, arrest him. If a rescue is at- 
tempted, fire." 

Having said this, he returned to the confer- 
ence with the mayor, and Lieutenant Kinsman 
proceeded to obej' the order. Ho conducted 
Mr. Summers to a side door, which he opened, 
and disclosed to the view of his charge a com- 
pact mass of infuriated men, held at bay by a 
company of fifty soldiers. 

" Don't attempt it," said the judge, recoiling 
from the sight. 

"I must," returned the lieutenant. "The 
general's orders were positive. I have no choice 
but to obey." 

The company of soldiers were soon dravm 
up in two lines, four feet apart, two men closing 
the front and two the rear of the column. In 
the open space were Lieutenant Kinsman and 
Mr. Summers. 

"Forward, march!" The column started. 
The crowd recognizing the giant judge, yelled 
and boiled around the slowly pushing column. 
The active men of the mob were not those 
within reach of the soldiers. The nearest men 
prudently held their peace and watched their 
chance. Consequently, no arrests were made 
until the column had gone half way to the Cus- 
tom-House. At that point stood an omnibus 
with one man in it, who was urging on the mob, 
by voice and gesture, with the violence of frenzy. 

" Halt ! Bring out that man !" 

Two soldiers sprang into the omnibus, collared 
the lunatic, drew him out, and placed him be- 
tween the lines, where he continued to yell and 
gesticulate in the most frantic manner. 

"Stop your noise!" thundered the lieutenant. 

" I won't," said the man ; " my tongue is my 
own." 

" Sergeant , lower your bayonet. If a 

sound comes out of that man's mouth, run him 
through !" 

The man was silent. 

"Forward — march!" The column pushed on 
again, but very slowly. After going some dis- 
tance, the lieutenant perceived that one man, 
who had been particularly vociferous, was within 
clutching distance. 

"Halt — bring in that man," pointing him out. 

The man was seized and placed in the column. 
He continued to shout, but a lowered bayonet 
brought him to his senses also. The column 
pushed on attain, and lodged the judge and the 
two prisoners salely in tlie impregnable Custom- 
House, the ciiadel of New Orleans. The com- 
pany marched back, in the same order, through 
a crowd " as silent as a funeral,'' to use the lieu- 
tenant's owu language. 

This scene was witnessed from the windows 



L A.N DING IN NEW ORLEANS. 



77 



of the St. Charles by General Butler and his 
staff, and by the mayor and his friends, tlie con- 
ference being suspended by common consent. 
The general informs me, that the firmness of 
Lieutenant Kinsman on this occasion, aided by 
ihe soldierly steadiness of the troops, and the 
perfect coolness of their officers, contributed 
most essentially to the subjugation of the mob 
of New Orleans. It was never so rampant 
again. The company was Captain Paige's of 
the Thirty-first Massachusetts. 

The reader perceives how it fared with the 
conference. The afternoon wore away amid 
these interruptions, and it was finally agreed to 
postpone farther conversation till the evening, 
when all matters in dispute should be thoroughly 
discussed. By that time too, copies of the 
Proclamation would be ready from the True 
Delta ofiQce. So the mayor and his friends de- 
parted. 

In the dusk of the evening, a carriage having 
been with difficulty procured. General Butler, 
with a single orderly on the box, drove to the 
levee, a distance of three-quarters of a mile, and 
Avent on board the transport Mississippi. Mrs. 
Butler and her maid had passed an anxious day 
there, ignorant of what was passing in the city. 
" Get ready to go on shore," said the general. 
The trunks were locked and strapped, and trans- 
ferred to the carriage. Mrs. Butler and her 
attendant took their places, the general followed 
them, and the party were driven to the hotel 
without molestation or outcry. 

There was a curious tea-party that evening in 
the vast dining-room of the Bt. Charles, where 
hundreds of people had been wont to consume 
luxurious fare. At one end of one of the tables 
sat the hltle company, lost in the magnitude of 
the room — the general, Mrs. Butler, and two 
or throe members of the staff. The fare was 
neither sumptuous nor abundant, and the soli- 
tary waiter was not at his ease, for he was doing 
an act that was death by the mob law of New 
Orleans. The general entertained the company 
by reading choice extracts from the anonymous 
letters which he had received in the course of 
the day. " We'll get the better of you yet, old 
cock-eye," remarked one of his nameless cor- 
respondents. Another requested him to wait a 
month or two, and see wliat Yellow Jack would 
do for him. Another warned him to look out 
for poison in his food. Both the General and 
Mrs. Butler received many epistles of this nature 
during the first few weeks, as well as some of a 
highly eulogistic tenor. Occasionally the gen- 
eral would reply to one of the abusive letters in 
the manner following : 

" Madam ; I have received the letter in which 
you remark upon my conduct in New Orleans, 
which I regret does not meet your approbation. 
It may interest you to know that others view it 
in a very different light, and I, theretbre, beg to 
inclose for your perusal a letter received this 
day, in which my administration is commented 
upon in a strain diS'erent from that in which you 
have done me the honor to review it. I am, 
madam," etc. 

As the frugal repast in the St. Charles was 
drawing to a close, a band on the balcony in 
front of the building, in full view of the crowd, 
struck up the Star Spangled Banner, filiing the 
void immensity of the dining-room with a deaf- 



ening noise. The band continued to play during 
the evening, the crowd standing silent and 
sullen. 

Our business, however, lies this evening in the 
ladies' parlor. It is a spacious, lofty and elegant 
apartment. On one side, in a large semi-circle, 
sat the representatives of New Orleans, the 
maj^or, the common council, other magnates, and 
Mr. Pierre Soule, spokesman and orator of the 
occasion. Mr. Soule had long been the special 
favorite of the Creole population ; popular, also, 
with all his fellow-citizens ; a kind of pet, or 
ladies' delight among them ; renowned, too, at 
the bar. New Yorkers may call him, if they 
please, the James T. Brady of New Orleans. Jn 
appearance he is not unlike Napoleon Bona- 
parte — about the stature, complexion and gen- 
eral style of Napoleon ; only with an eye of 
marvelous briUiaucy, and hair worn very long, 
black as night. A melodious, fluent, graceful, 
courteous man, formed to take captive the liearis 
of listening men and women. Of an independent 
turn of mind, too ; not too tractable in the 
courts ; not one of those who made haste to 
sever the ties that had bound them to their 
country. He appears to have accepted secession 
as a fact accomplished, rather than helped to 
make it such. In conventions and elsewhere, 
General Butler had often met him before to-day, 
and their intercourse had alwajs been amicable. 
On the opposite side of the room, also in a 
semi-circle, sat general Butler and bis staff, in 
full uniform, brushed for tlie occasion. Readers 
are familiar with those annihilating caricatures, 
which are called photographs of General Butler. 
In truth, the general has an imposing presence 
Not tall, but of well- developed form, and fine, 
massive head; not graceful in movement, but 
of firm, solid aspect ; self-possessed ; not silver 
tongued, not fluent, hke Mr. Saule; on the con 
trary, he is slow of speech, often hesitates and 
labors, can not at once bring down the sledge 
hammer squarely on the anvil; but down it 
comes at last with a ring that is remembered. 
It is only in the heat and tempest of contention, 
that he acquires tiie perfect use of his parts ol 
speecli. A lady who may, for anything I know, 
have been peeping into the room this evening 
from some coigne of vantage, compares the two 
combatants on this occasion to Richard and Sala- 
din, us described by Scott in the Talisman; 
where Saladin, all alertness and grace, cuts the 
silk with gleaming, swiftest cimeter, and burly 
Richard, with ponderous broad-sword, which 
only he could wield, severs the bar of iron. 

General Butler opened the conversation by 
saying that the object for which he had re- 
quested the attendance of the mayor and coun- 
cil, was to explain to them the principles upon 
which he intended to govern the department to 
which he had been assigned, and to learn from 
them how far they were disposed to co-operate 
with him. He added that he had prepared a 
proclamation to the people of New Orleans, 
which expressed his intentions; and which he 
would now read. After reading it he would be 
happy to listen to any remarks from gentlemen 
representing the people of the city. He then 
read the proclamation. 

" The surn and substance of the whole," 
added General Butler, " is this : I wish to leav" 
the municipal authority in the full exercise of itf 



78 



LANDING IN NEW ORLEANS. 



accustomed functions. I do not desire to inter- 
fere with the collection of taxes, the government 
of the police, the lighting and cleaning of the 
streets, the sanitary laws, or the administration 
of justice. I desire ou]j to govern the military 
forces of the department, and to take cognizance 
only of ofifenses committed by or against them. 
Representing iiere the United States, it is my 
wish to contine myself solelj'' to the business of 
sustaining the government of the United States 
against its enemies." 

Mr. Soule replied. He said, that his first con- 
cern was for the tranquillity of the city, which, 
he felt sure, could not be maintained so long as 
the federal troops remained within its limits. 
He therefore urged and implored General Butler 
to remove the troops to the outskirts of the 
town, where the hourly sight of them would not 
irritate a sensitive and high-spirited people. '■ I 
know the feelings of the people so well," said 
he, " that I am sure your soldiers can have no 
peace while they remain in our midst." The 
Proclamation, he added, would give great of- 
fense. The jjeople would never submit. They 
were not conquered, and could not be expected 
to behave as a conquered people. " "Withdraw 
your troops, general, and leave the city govern- 
ment to manage its own affairs. If the troops 
remain, there will certainly be trouble." 

This absurd line of remark — absurd as a reply 
to the general's proposals — fired the commander 
of the department of the gulf. He spoke, how- 
ever, in a measured though decisive manner. 

"I did not expect," said he, "to hear from 
Mr. Soule a threat on t]ds occasion. I have 
been long accustomed to hear threats from 
southern gentlemen in political conventions; 
but let me assure gentlemen present, that the 
time for tactics of that nature has passed never 
to return. New Orleans is a conquered city. 
If not, wh}- are we here? How did we get 
here ? Have you opened your arms and bid 
us welcome? Are we here by your consent? 
Would you or would you not, expel us if you 
could ? New Orleans has been conquered by 
the forces of the United States, and by the laws 
of all nations, lies subject to the will of the con- 
querors. Nevertheless, I have proposed to leave 
the municipal government to the free exercise 
of all its powers, and I am answered by a 
threat." 

Mr. Soule disclaimed the intention to threaten 
the troops. He had desired merely to state 
what, in his opinion, would be the consequences 
of their remaining. 

" Gladly," continued General Butler, "will I 
take every man of the army out of New Orleans 
the very day, the very hour it is demonstrated 
to me that the city government caa protect me 
from insult or danger, if I choose to ride alone 
from one end of the city to tlie other, or accom- 
panied by one gentleman of my stafi". Your in- 
ability to govern the insulting, irreligious, un- 
washed mob in your midst, has been clearly 
proved by the insults of your rowdies toward 
my officers and men this very afternoon, and by 
the fact that General Lovell was obliged to pro- 
claim martial law while his army occupied your 
city, to protect the law abiding citizens from the 
rowdies. I do not proclaim martial law against 
the respectable citizens of this place, but against 
the same class that obliged General Wilkinson, 



General Jackson, and General Lovell to declare 
it. I have means of knowing more about your 
city than you think, and I am aware that at 
this hour there is an organization here established 
for the purpose of assassinating my men by de- 
tail ; but I warn you that if a shot is fired from 
any house, that house will never again cover a 
mortal's head ; and if I can discover the perpe- 
trator of the deed, the place that now know.s 
him shall know him no more foi' ever. I have 
the power to suppress this unruly element in 
your midst, and I mean so to use it, that in a 
very short period, I shall be able to ride through 
the entire city, free from insult and danger, or 
else this metroiDolis of the South shaU be a 
desert, from the plains of Chalmeite to the out- 
skirts of Carrolton." 

Mr. Soule, in reply, delivered an oration, the 
beauty and grace of which were admired l^y all 
who heard it. I regret that we have no report 
of his speech. It was, in part, a defense and 
eulogy of New Orleans, and, in part, a secession 
speech of the usual tenor, illumined by the 
rhetoric of an accomplished speaker. He said 
that New Orleans contained a smaller proportion 
of the mob element than any other city of equal 
size, and that the proclamation of martial law by 
General Lovell was aimed, not at the mob, but 
at the Union men and " traitors" in their midst. 
The conversation then turned to a topic of 
immense moment to the people of the city, the 
supply of provisions. The general said he had 
determined to issue permits to dealers and others, 
which should protect them in bringing in pro- 
visions from a certaiu distance beyond his lines. 
The awful sif.oation of the poor of the city should 
have his immediate attention ; in the mean time, 
the Confederate currency in tlieir hands should 
be allowed to circulate, since many of them had 
nothing else of the nature of money. 

After much farther discussion, the general 
being immovable, the mayor announced, that the 
functions of the city government would be at 
once suspended, and the general could do with 
the city as seemed to him good. 

A member of the council prompt^ly interposed, 
saying that a matter of so much importance 
should not be disposed of until it had been con- 
sidered and acted upon by the common council. 
The mayor assented. General Butler offered no 
objection. It was finally agreed that the coun- 
cil should confer upon the subject the ne,\t 
morning, and make known the result of their 
deliberations to the general in the course of the 
day. The gentlemen then withdrew : the crowd 
in the streets gradually dispersed, and the city 
enjoyed a tranquil night. 

The next morning, the Proclamation was pub- 
lished , i. e., handbills, containing it, were freely 
given to all who would take one. Two impor- 
tant appointments were also announced : Major 
Josepli W. Bell, to be provost-judge, and Col- 
onel Jonas H. French, to be provost-marshai. 
Colonel French notified the people, by hand-bill, 
that he " assumed the position of provost-mar- 
shal, for the purpose of carrying out such of tiie 
provisions of the. Proclamation of the general 
commanding within this department, as were not 
left to municipal action. * * Particu- 

larly does he call attention to the prohibition 
against assemblages of persons in the streets ; 
the sale of liquor to soldiers; the necessity for 



LANDING IN NEW ORLEANS. 



79 



a license on tlie part of keepers of public houses, 
cofifee-houses, and drinkino- saloons: to the post- 
ing of placards about the streets, giving infor- 
mation concerning the action or movements of 
rebel troops, and the publishing in the newspa- 
pers of notices or resolutions laudatory of the 
enemies of the United States. " The soldiers of 
tin's command are subject, upon the part of some 
low-minded persons, to insult. Tins must stop. 
Repetition will lead to instant arrest and pun- 
ishment. In the performance of his duties the 
undersigned will, in no degree trench upon the 
regularly established police of the city, but will 
confine himself simply to the performance of 
such acts as were to bo assumed by the military 
authorities of the United Slates ; and, in such 
action, he hopes to meet with the ready co-oper- 
ation of all who have the welfare of the city at 
heart." 

At noon, the foreign consuls waited upon Gen- 
eral Butler, accompanied by General Juge, com- 
manding the European Brigade. The interview 
was in the highest degree amicable and cour- 
teous. General Butler explained to the consuls 
the line of conduct he had marked out for him- 
self, and related the leading points of his proposal 
to the mayor and council, whose reply he was 
then awaiting. He also assured the consuls, 
that nothing should be wanting on his part, to 
facilitate the discharge of their public duties. 
His most earnest desire, he said, was to confine 
his attention to his military duty, and leave all 
public fiinctionaries, domestic and foreign, to the 
unrestrained discharge of their vocations. He 
warmly thanked Genera-1 Juge for his eminent 
services during the last week, expressed regret 
that he had disbanded his men, hoped he would 
reorganize them, and aid him in maintaining or- 
der. The gentlemen retired, apparently well 
pleased with what they had heard. They all 
shook hands with the general at parting. 

A delegation from the common council next 
appeared, who informed the general that his pro- 
posal of the evening before was accepted. The 
city government should go on as usual ; but 
they requested that the troops should be with- 
drawn from the vicinity of the City Hail, that 
the authorities might not seem to be acting under 
military dictation. This request was granted : 
the troops were withdrawn. 

The general went farther. He sent a consid- 
erable body of troops under General Phelps to 
Carrollton, where a permanent camp was formed. 
A brigade under General Williams soon went up 
the river with Captain Farragut, to take posses- 
sion of and hold Baton Rouge. Other troops 
were posted in the various forts upon the lakes 
abandoned by the enemy. Others were at Al- 
giers. The camps in the squares of the city 
were broken up. When all the troops were 
posted, there remained in the city, during the 
first few weeks, two hundred and fifty men : and 
these men were lodged in the Custom-House, 
and served merelj' as a provost-guard. Mr. 
Soule, therefore, had his desire, or nearly so, for 
the general was fully resolved to omit no fair 
means of conciliating the people, and winning 
them back to their allegiance. 

Thus, by the end of the third day, the city 
was tranquil, and there seemed a prospect of 
the two 8» of authorities going on peacefully 



together, each keeping to its own department : 
General Butler governing the army, and extend- 
ing the area of conquest ; the mayor and council 
ruling the city, aided, if necessary, by General 
Juge and his brigade. This was the theory 
upon which General Butler began his memorable 
administration. Tliis was the offer which he 
sincerely made to the people and government of 
the city. We shall discover, in lime, whose fault 
it was that the tlieory proved so signally un- 
tenable. 

The comments of the press of New Orleans 
upon the new order of things, were far more 
favorable to General Butler than could have 
been expected. The True Delta ft-ankly ad- 
mitted the trutli of that part of the Proclamation 
which gave to the European Brigade the credit 
of having preserved the city. " For seven years 
past," said the T)-ue Delta, of May 6th, "the 
world knows that this city, in all its depart- 
ments — judicial, legislative, and executive — has 
been at the absolute disposal of the most godless, 
brutal, ignorant and ruthle.ss ruffianism the world 
has ever heard of since the days of the great 
Roman conspirator. By means of a secret or- 
ganization emanating from that fecund source of 
eveiy pohtical infamy, New England, and named 
Know Nolhingism or 'Sammyism' — from the 
boasted exclusive devotion of the fraternity to 
the United States — our city, from being the 
abode of decency, of liberality, generosity and 
justice, has become a perfect hell ; the temples 
of justice are sanctuaries for crimes; the min- 
isters of the laws, the nominees of blood-stained, 
vulgar, ribald caballers ; licensed murderers .shed 
innocent blood on the most public thoroughfares 
with impunity ; witnesses of the most atrocious 
crimes are either spirited away, bought off, or 
intimidated from testifying ; perjured associates 
are retained to prove alibis, and ready bail is 
always procurable for the immediate use of thos© 
whom it is not immediately prudent to enlarge 
otherwise. The electoral system is a farce and 
a fraud ; the knife, the slung-shot, the brass 
knuckles determining, while the sham is being 
enacted, who shall occupy and administer the 
offices of the municipality and the common- 
wealth. Can our condition then surprise any 
man ? Is it, either, a tair ground for reproach 
to the well-disposed, kind-hearted and intelligent 
fixed population of New Orleans, that institutions 
and offices designed for the safety of their persons, 
the security of their property, and mainleuance 
of their fair repute and unsullied honor, should 
by a band of conspirators, in possession by force 
and fraud of the electoral machinery, be diverted 
from their legitimate uses and made engines of 
the most insupportable oppression ? "W'e accept 
the reproach in the Proclamation, as every Loui- 
siauian alive to the honor and tair fame of his 
state and chief city must accept it, with bowed 
heads and brows abashed." 

The Bee of May 8th said: '"The mayor and 
municipal authorities have been allowed to retain 
their power and privileges in everything uncon- 
nected with military atiairs. The federal soldiers 
do not seem to interfere with the private property 
of the citizens, and have done uotiiing that we 
are aware of to provoke difficulty. The usual 
nightly reports of arrests for vagrancy, assaults, 
wounding and killing have unquestionably beeu 



80 



FEEDING AND EMPLOYING THE POOR. 



diminished. The city is as tranquil and peacea- 
ble as in the most auiet times." 



CHAFER Xlir. 

FEEDING AND EMPLOYING THE POOR. 

New Orleans was in danger of starving. It 
contained a population of, perhaps, one hundred 
and fifty thousand, for whom there was in the 
city about thirty days' supply of provisions, held 
at prices beyond the means of all but the rich. 
A barrel of Hour could not be bought for sixty 
dollars ; the markets were empty, the provision 
stores closed. The trade witli Mobile, which 
had formerly whitened the lakes and the sound 
with sails, was cut off. The Texas drovers had 
ceased to bring in cattle, and no steamboats 
from the Red River country were running. The 
lake coasts were desolate and halt-deserted, 
because the trade with New Orleans had ceased, 
and because the locusts of secession had de- 
voured their substance. 

New Orleans was thus a starving city, in the 
midst of an impoverished country. The river 
planters, who had been wont to send marketing 
to the city, now feared to trust iheir sloops, their 
produce and their slaves, within the hues of an 
army which they had been taught to believe 
was bent on plunder only. A large proportion 
of the men of New Orleans were away with the 
Confederate armies, at Shiloh, in Virginia, and 
elsewhere, having left wives and children, mis- 
tresses and their offspring, to the public charge. 
The city taxes were a million dollars in arrears; 
and the city government, it was soon discovered, 
was expending its energies and its ingenuity 
upon a business more congenial than that of 
providing for the poor ; namely, that of frustrat- 
ing and exasperating the commander of the 
Union army. In a word, fifty thousand human 
beings in New Orleans saw before them a pros- 
pect, not of want, not of a long struggle with 
adversity, but of starvation ; and that immediate, 
to-morrow or the next day ; and General Butler, 
wielding the power and resources of the United 
States, alone could save them. 

To this task he addressed himself; it neces- 
sarily had the precedence of all other work 
during the first few days. If we confine our- 
selves to this topic for a short time, so as to show 
in one view all tliat General Butler did for the 
. poor of New Orleans, the reader will please bear 
in mind, that the commanding general was by 
. no means able to confine his attention to it. He 
I bad eveiythiug to do at once. The business of 
the city was dead ; he strove to revive it. Con- 
idence in the honest intentions of the Union 
autliurities did not exist ; he endeavored to call 
■ it into being. The currency was deranged; it 
was his duty to rectify it. The seeessiouidts 
were audaciously diligent ; he had to circumvent 
and repress them. The yellow fever season was 
at hand ; he was resolved to ward it ofl". The 
city government was obstructive and hostile; it 
was his business to frustrate their endeavors. 
The negro problem loomed up, vast and por- 
ieutous ; he had to act upon it without delay. 
The banks were in disorder; their affairs de- 
manded his attention. The consulates were so 



many centers of hostile operations ; he had to 
penetrate their mysteries. His army was con- 
siderable, his field of operation immense; he 
could not neglect the chief business of his mis- 
sion. All these aflairs claimed his immediate 
attention, and had it. But though a thousand 
events may occur simultaneously, it is not con- 
venient to relate them simultaneously. We shall 
have sometimes to disregard the order of lime, 
and pursue one subject or class of subjects to the 
end. 

General Butler's first measures for the supply 
of the city were taken upon the suggestion of 
the city magnates. Orders were promulgated on 
the third day of the occupation of the city, 
which permitted steamboats to ply to Mobile 
and the Red River and bring to the city provis- 
ions, but only provisions. The directors of the 
Opelousas Railroad received permits to run 
trains for the same purpose. 

For the immediate relief of the poor, General 
Butler gave from his own resources a thousand 
dollars, half in money, half in provisions. His 
brother, Colonel A. J. Butler, who found himself 
by the action of the senate, without employment 
in New Orleans, and having both capital and 
•credit at command, embarked in the business of 
bringing cattle from Texas, to the great advan- 
tage of the city and his own considerable profit 
The quartermaster's chest being empty. Genera. 
Butler placed all the money of his own, which he 
could raise, at his disposal. Provisions soon be- 
gan to arrive, but not in the requisite quantities. 
At the end of a month, flour had fallen to twen- 
ty-four dollars a barrel; but nearly nineteen 
hundred families were daily fed at the public 
expense, and thousands more barely contrived to 
subsist. 

It immediately appeared that every one of the 
passes and permits issued by the general, in ac- 
cordance with the orders just given, was abused, 
to the aid and comfort of secession. It was dis- 
covered that provisions were secretly sent out of 
the city to feed General Lovell's troops. It was 
ascertained that Charles Heidsieck, one of the 
champagne Heidsiecks, had come from Mobile 
in the provision steamboat, disguised as a bar- 
keeper, and conveyed letters to and from that 
city ; an oifense which consigned him speedily to 
Fort Jackson. Nor did the city government stir 
in the business of providing for tlie poor; not a 
dollar was voted, not a relieving act was passed. 
The city was reeking, too, with the accumulated 
filth of many weeks, the removal of which 
would have afforded employment to many hun- 
gry men ; but it was suffered to remain, inviting 
the yellow fever. 

General Butler, on the 9th of May, reminded 
the mayor and council of the compact between 
himself and the city authorities made five days 
before. " I desire," said he, " to call your atten- 
tion to the sanitary condition of your streets. 
Having assumed, by tlie choice of your fellow- 
citizens, and the permission of the United Stales 
aulliorities, the care of the city of New Orleans 
in this behalf, that trust must be faithfully admin- 
istered. Resolutions and inaction will not do. 
Active, energetic measures, fully and promptly 
executed, are imperatively demanded by the exi- 
gencies of the occasion. The present suspension 
of labor furnishes ample supplies of huugry myn, 
who can be profitably employed to this end. A 



FEEt)ING AND EMPLOYING THE POOR. 



tithe of the labor and effort spent upon the streets 
amd public squares, which was uselessly and in- 
anely wasted upon idle fortificaiions, like tiiat 
about the United States Mint, will place tlie city 
iiii a condition to insure the health of its inhabit- 
#ints. Tt will not do to shift the responsibility 
from yourselves to the street commissioners, 
from thence to the contractor, and thence to the 
sub-contractors, and through all the grades of 
civic idleness and neglect of duty. Three days 
since I called the attention of Mr. Mayor to the 
subject, but nothing has been done." 

The mayor boldly replied that three hundred 
extra men had been set to work upon the streets. 
No such force could be discovered by the optics 
of the Union officers. Steps may have been 
taken toward the employment of men, and even 
■"extra men," in cleaning the city ; but it is cer- 
tain that, up to the ninth of May, no street- 
cleaners were actually at work. The weather 
was extremely hot, and the need of purification 
was manifest and pressing 

On the same day. General Butler issued one of 
his startling general orders, the terms and tone 
of which were doubtless influenced by the may- 
or's audacious reply, as well as by the abuse of 
the passes which admitted food to a starving city. 

"New Orlkans, May 9, 1862. 

" The deplorable state of destitution and hun- 
ger of the mechanics and working classes of this 
city has been brought to the knowledge of the 
'•'^mmanding general. 

He has yielded to every suggestion made \>y 
^ne city government, and ordered every method 
of furnisliing food to the people of New Orleans 
*hat government desired. No relief by tho.se 
jicials has yet been atlbrded. This hunger does 
''Ot pinch the wealthy and influential, the leaders 
% the rebellion, who have gotten up this war, 
and are now endeavoring to prosecute it, without 
regard to the starving poor, the workingman, his 
wife and ciiild. Unmindful of their suffering 
fellow-citizens at home, they have caused or suf- 
fered provisions to be carried out of the city for 
Confederate service since the occupation by 
the United States forces. 

''Lafayette Square, their home of affluence, 
was made the depot of stores and munitions of 
war for the rebel armies, and not of provisions 
for their poor neighbors. Striking hands with 
the vile, the gambler, the idler, and the ruffian, 
they have destroyed the sugar and cotton which 
might have been exchanged for food for the in- 
dustrious and good, and regrated the price of that 
which is left, by discrediting the very currency 
they had furnished, while they eloped with the 
specie ; as well that stolen from the United States. 
as from the banks, the property of the good 
people of New Orleans, thus leaving them to ruin 
and starvation. 

"Fugitives from justice many of them, and 
others, their associates, staying because too puer- 
ile and insignificant to be objects of punishment 
by the clement government of the United States. 
'■ They have betrayed their country : 
"They have been false to every trust: 
" They have shown themselves incapable of 
defending the state they had seized upon, al- 
though they have forced every poor man's child 
into their service as soldiers for that purpose, 
while they made their sons and nephews officers: 



" They can not protect those whom they have 
ruined, but have left them to the mercies and 
assassinations of a chronic mob: 

"They will not feed those whom they are 
starving: 

" Mostly without property themselves, they 
have plundered, stolen, and destroyed the means 
of lliose who had property, leaving children pen- 
niless and old age hop-eless. 

•' Men of Louisiana, ttorkingmen, prop- 
erty-holders, MERCHAXTS. AND CITIZENS OF 
THE United States, of whatever nation you 
may have had birth, how long will you uphold 
these flagrant wrongs, and, by inaction, suffer 
yourselves to be made the serfs of these 
leaders ? 

"The United States have sent land and naval 
forces here to fight and subdue rebellious armies 
ill array against' her authority. We find, sub- 
stantially, only fugitive masses, runaway pro- 
perty-burners, a whisky-drinking mob, and starv- 
ing citizens with their wives and children. It \i 
our duly to call back the first, to punish the sec- 
ond, root out the third, feed and protect tiie last. 

" Ready only for war, wo had not prepared 
ourselves to feed the hungry and relieve tiie 
distressed with provisions. JBut to the extent 
possible, witliin the power of the commanding 
general, it shall be done. 

" He has captured a quantity of beef and 
sugar intended for the rebels in the field. A 
thousand barrels of these stores will be distribu- 
ted among the deserving poor of this city, from 
whom the rebels had plundered it; even al- 
though some of the food will go to supply the 
craving wants of tlie wives and children of 
those now herding at ' Camp Moore' and else- 
where, in arms against the United States. 

" Captain John Clark, acting chief commissary 
of subsistence will be charged with the execu- 
tion of this order, and will give public notice of 
the place and manner of distribution, which 
will be arranged, as far as possible, so that the 
unworthy and dissolute will not share its bene- 
fits." 

Another measure of relief was adopted when 
the arrival of stores from New York had deliv- 
ered the army itself from the danger of scarcity. 
The cliief commissary was autliorized to "sell 
to families for consumption, in small quantities, 
until farther orders, flour and salt meats, viz : 
pork, beef, ham, and bacon, from the stores of 
the army, at seven and a half cents per pound 
for flour and ten cents for meats. City bank- 
notes, gold, silver, or treasury notes to be taken 
in payment." 

The city government still neglecting the 
streets, General Butler conceived the idea of 
combining the relief of the poor with tlie purifi- 
cation of the city. There was nothing upon 
which ho was more resolved than tlie disap- 
pointment of rebel hopes with regard to the 
yellow fever. He under.xtood the yellow fever, 
knew the secret of its visitations, felt himself 
equal to a successful contest with it. June 
fourth (the mayor of the ciiy being then in a 
state of suppression at Fort Jackson, for acts 
yet to be related), the general sketched his plan 
in a letter to General Shepley and the common 
council. 

General Shepley communicated this letter to 



8*2 



FEEDING AND EMPLOYING THE POOR. 



the council, who readily adopted the plan, and 
appointed a gentleman to superintend their 
share in it. On the part of the United State?, 
General Shcpley named Colonel T. B. Thorpe, 
the well-known author of the "Bee Hunter," 
who had received the appointment of city sur- 
veyor. The entire management of the two 
thousand laborers fell to Colonel Thorpe, as his 
colleague refused to take the oath of alle<iiance 
to the United States, which General Butler 
made a sine qua non. No man conid have done 
the work better. He waged incessant and most 
successful war upon nuisances. He tore away 
shanties, filled up hollows, purged the canals, 
cleaned the streets, repaired the levee, and kept 
the city in such perfect cleanliness as extorted 
praise from the bitterest foes of his country and 
his chief In gangs of twenty-five, each under 
an overseer, the street-sweepers pervaded the 
city. 

" It was a reflecting sight," says an eye-wit- 
*uess, " to behold these mea on the highways 
and bj'--ways, with their shovels and brooms ; 
and it was still more gratifying to notice and to 
feel the happy eflects o: their work. The street 
cleaning commenced, the colonel then undertook 
the distribution of the food to the families of the 
laborers, and this was a task of no ordinary 
magnitude. A thousand halfstarved women, 
made impatient by days of starvation, brought 
in contact and left to struggle at the entrance of 
some ill-arranged establishment, for their food 
and rights, was a formidable subject of contem- 
plation ; so the colonel organized a distributing 
department, and so well managed his plans that 
the food is being given out with all the quietness 
of a popular grocery. To secure the object of 
the charity, he had tickets printed that made the 
delivery of the food to the women only ; in this 
way it was carried into the family, consumed by 
the helpless, and not sold by the unprincipled 
for rum. The moment Colonel Thorpe's name 
appeared in the papers, he was flooded with let- 
ters calling his attention to nuisances, the people 
acting voluntarily as street inspectors. By a 
judicious distribution of labor, in a few days tlie 
change became a subject of comment, some of 
the most ferocious secessionists admitting ' that 
the federals could clean the streets, if they 
couldn't do anything else.' " * 

Colonel Thorpe's labors were permanently 
beneficial to the city in many ways. The freaks 
of the Mississippi river constantly create new 
land within the city limits. This land, which is 
called batturc (shoal), requires the labor of man 
before it is completely rescued from the domains 
of the river. It is computed that Colonel 
Thorpe's o!>'.llfully directed exertions upon the 
batture added to the city a quantity of land 
worth a million of dollars. 

And this leads us to the most remarkable of 
all the circumstances attending General Butler's 
relief of the poor of New Orleans. He not only 
made it profitable to the city, but he managed it 
so as not to add one aollar to the expenditures 
of his own government. At a time when thirty- 
five thousand persons were supported by the 
public funds, he could still boast, and with literal 
truth, that it cost the United States nothing. 
" You are the cheapest general we have employ- 

♦ Correspondent of i^ew York Times, July 21, 1862. 



ed," said Mr. Chase, when acknowledging the 
return of twenty-five thousand dollars in gold^ 
which hail been senv. to General Butler's com- 
Inissar3^ 

The following general order explains the 
secret : 

"Nbw Orlrans, August 4, 1862. 
"It appears that the need of relief to the des- 
titute poor of the city requires more extended 
measures and greater outlay than have yet been 
made. 

" It becomes a question, in justice, upon whom 
should this burden fall. 

"Clearly upon those who have brought this 
great calamity upon their fellow-citizeus. 

'•It should not be borne by taxation of the 
whole municipality, because the middling and 
working men have never been heard at the bal- 
lot-box, unawed by threats and unmenaced by 
'Thugs' and paid assassins of conspirators 
against peace and good order. Besides, more 
than the vote that was claimed for secession 
have taken the oath of allegiance to the United 
States. 

" The United States government does its share 
when it protects, defends, and preserves the peo- 
ple in the enjoyment of law, order, and calm 
quiet. 

" Those who have brought upon the city this 
stagnation of business, this desolation of the 
hearth-stone, this starvation of the poor and 
helpless, should, as far as they may be able^ 
relieve these distresses. 

"There are two classes whom it would seem 
peculiarly fit should at first contribute to this 
end. First, those individuals and corporations 
who have aided the rebellion with their means : 
and second, those who have endeavored to de 
stroy the commercial prosperity of the city, upon 
which the welfare of its inhabitants depend. 

'* It is brought to the knowledge of the com- 
manding general that a subscription of twelve 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars was made by 
the corporate bodies, business firms, and persons 
whose names are set/orth in schedule 'A' an- 
nexed to this order, and that sum placed in the 
hands of an illegal body known as the '• Con> 
mittee of Public Safety,' tor the treasonable- 
purpose of defending the city against the govern- 
ment of the United States, under whose humane 
rule the city of New Orleans had enjoyed eucli 
unexampled prosperity, that her warehouses 
were filled with trade of all nations who came to 
share her freedom, to take part in the benefits 
of her commercial superiority, and thus she was 
made the representative mart of the world. 

" The stupidity and wastefulness with which' 
this immense sum was spent was only equaled 
by the folly which led to its being raised at alL 
The subscribers to this fund, by this very act. 
betray their treasonable designs and their ability 
to pay at least a much smaller tax for the relief 
of their destitute and starving neigbors. 

" Schedule ' B' is a hst of cotton brokers, who. 
claiming to control that great interest in New- 
Orleans, to which she is so much indebted for 
her wealth, published in the newspapers, in 
October, 1861, a manifesto deliberately advising 
the planters not to bring their produce to the 
city, a measui'e which brought ruin at the same 
time upon the producer and the city. 

"This act sufiQciently testifies the malignity 



FEEDING AND EMPLOYING THE POOR. 



of tliese traitors, as well to the government as 
their neighoors, and it is to be regretted that 
their ability to relieve their fellow-citizens is not 
equal to their facilities for injuring them. 

" In taxing both these dasses to relieve the 
suffering poor of New Orleans, yea, even though 
the needy be the starving wives and children of 
those inarms at Richmond and elsewhere against 
the United States, it will be impossible to make 
a mistake save in having the assessment too 
easy and the burden too light. 

" It is therefore Ordered — 

" 1st. That the sums in schedules annexed, 
marked ' A' and ' B,' set against the names of 
the several persons, business tirms and corpora- 
tions herein described, be and hereby are as- 
sessed upon each respectively. 

" 2d. That said sums be paid to Lieutenant 
David C. G-. Field, financial clerk, at his office in 
the Custom-House, on or before Monday, the 
nth instant, or that the property of the delin- 
quent be forthwith seized and sold at public 
auction, to pay the amount, with all necessary 
charges and expenses, or the party imprisoned 
till paid. 

"3d. The money raised by this assessment to 
be a fund for the purpose of providing employ- 
ment and food for the deserving poor people of 
New Orleans." 

The promised schedules followed. The first 
contained ninety-five names, arranged thus : 

SCHEDULE A. 

List of subscribers to the Million and a Quarter 
Loan, placed in the hands of the Committee 
of Public Safety, for the defense of New 
Orleans against the United States, and ex- 
pended by them some $38,000. 

Sams subscribed Snms assessed 

to aid treason to relieve the 

against the poor by the 

United States. United States. 

Abat, Generee & Co. . .$210,000 $52,500 

Jonathan Montgomery. . 40,000 10,000 
Tbos. Sloo, President Sun 

Insurance Co 50,000 12,500 

C.C.Gaines 2,000 500 

C. C. Gaines & Co 3,000 750 

The sum yielded by thi.s schedule was $312,- 
716.25. The second schedule, which contained 
ninety-four names, began thus : 

SCHEDULE B. 

List of Cotton Brokers of New Orleans who pub- 
lished in the Orescent, in October last, a card 
advising planters not to send produce to New 
Orleans, in order to induce foreign intervention 
in behalf of the rebellion. 

Sums assessed to relieve 

the starving poor by 

the Unitfid States. 

Hewitt, Norton & Co $500 

"West & Villerie 250 

S. E. Belknap 100 

Brander, Chambliss & Co 500 

Lewis & Oglesby 100 

The amount of this assessment waa $29,200. 



General Order, No. 55, placed at the di-sposal of 
General Butler, for the support of the poor of the 
city, the sum of $341,916.25. 

The effect produced by a mensnre so boldly 
just, upon the mind<* of tlie ruling class of New 
Orleans, can scarcely be imagined. It waa the 
more stunning from the fact, that after three 
months' experience of General Butler's govern- 
ment, his orders were known to be the irrever- 
sible fiat of irresistible power. Every man who 
saw his name on either catalogue, was perfectly 
aware that the sura annexed thereto must be 
paid on or before the designated day. Protest 
he might, but pay he must. Money first; argu- 
ment afterwards. ^ 

The loyal and humorous Delta assured the 
gentlemen, and with perfect truth, that lamen- 
tations would not do. " The poor must be em- 
ployed and fed, and you must disgorge. It will 
never do to have it said, that while you lie back 
on cushioned divans, tasting turtle, and sipping 
the wine cnp, dressed in fine linen, and rolling 
in lordly carriages — that gaunt hunger stalked in 
the once busy streets, and poverty flouted its 
rags for the want of the privilege to work." 

There was but one court of appeal in New 
Orleans, open to distressed secessionists — the 
consulate of the country of which he could 
claim to be a citizen. The consuls lent a sympa- 
thizing ear to all complaints, and vrillingly for- 
warded them to their ministers at "Washington ; 
who, in turn, laid them before the secretary of 
state. The protest of some of the " neutrals" 
in New Orleans gave General Butler the oppor- 
tunity to vindicate the justice of Order No. 55, 
and he performed the task with a master's hand. 

""When." said he, "I took possession of New 
Orleans, I found the city nearly on the verge of 
starvation, but thirty days' provision in it, and 
the poor utterly without the means of procuring 
what food there was to be had. 

" I endeavored to aid the city government in 
the work of feeding the poor : but I soon found 
that the very distribution of food was a means 
faithlessly used to encourage the rebellion. I 
waa obliged, therefore, to take the whole matter 
into my own hands. It became a subject of 
alarming importance and gravity. It became 
necessary to provide from some source the funds 
to procure the food. They could not be raised 
by city taxation, in the ordinary form. These 
taxes were in arrears to more than a million of 
dollars. Besides, it would be unjust to tax the 
loyal citizens and honestly neutral foreigner, to 
provide for a state of things brought about by 
the rebels and disloyal foreigners related to them 
by ties of blood, marriage, and social relartion 
who had conspired and labored together to ovfc 
throw the authority of the United States, and 
establish the very result which was to be met. 

"Farther, in order to have a contribution 
effective, it must be upon those who have wealth 
to answer it. 

" There seemed to me d' such fit subjects for 
such taxation as the cotton brokers who had 
brought the distress upon the city, by thus 
paralyzing commerce, and the' subscribers to the 
rebel loan, who hsd money to invest for purposes 
of war, so advertised and known. 

" "With these convictions, I issued General 
Order No. 55, which will explain itself; and have 



84 



FEEDING AND EMPLOYING THE POOR. 



raised nearly che amount of tax therein set 
forth. 

" But for what purpose ? Not a dollar has 
gone in any way to the use of the United States. 
1 am now employing one thousand poor laborers, 
as matter of charity, upon the streets and 
wharves of the city, from this fund. I am dis- 
tributing food to preserve from starvation nine 
thousand seven hundred and seven families, con- 
taining ' thirty-two thousand four hundred and 
fifty souls' daily, and this done at an expense of 
seventy thousand dollars per month. I am sus- 
taining, at an expense of two thousand dollars 
per month, five asylums for widows and orphans. 
I am aiding the Charity Hospital to the extent 
of five thousand dollars per month. 

"Before their excellencies, the French and 
Prussian ministers, complain of my exactions 
upon foreigners at New Orleans, T desire they 
would look at the documents, and consider for a 
few moments the facts and figures set forth in 
the returns and in this report. They will find 
that out of ten thousand four hundred and ninety 
families who have been fed from the fund, with 
the raising of which they find fault, less than 
one-tenth (one thousand and ten) are Americans; 
nine thousand four hundred and eighty are for- 
eigners. Of the thirty-two thousand souls, but 
three thousand are natives. Besides, the charity 
at the asylums and ho.spitals is distributed in about 
the same proportions as to foreign and native 
bora ; so that of an expenditure of near eighty 
thousand dollars per month, to employ and feed 
the starving poor of New Orleans, seventy-two 
thousand goes to the foreigners, whose com- 
patriots loudly complain, and offensively thrust 
forward their neutrality, whenever they are 
called upon to aid their suffering countrymen. 

" I should need no extraordinary taxation to 
feed the poor of New Orleans, if the bellies of 
the foreigners were as active with the rebels, as 
are the heads of those who claim exemption, 
thus far, from this taxation, made and used for 
purposes above set forth, upon the ground of 
their neutrality; among whom I find Rochereau 
& Co., the senior partner of which firm took an 
oath of allegiance to support the constitution of 
the Confederate States. 

'• I find also the house of Reichard & Co., the 
senior partner of which. General Reichard, ia in 
the rebel army. I find the junior partner, Mr. 
Kruttschnidt, the brother-in-law of Benjamin, 
the rebel secretary of war, using all the funds in 
his hands to purchase arms, and collecting the 
securities of his correspondent before they are 
due, to get funds to loan to the rebel authorities, 
and now acting Prussian consul here, doing 
quite as effective service to the rebels as his 
partner in the field. I find Mme. Vogel, late 
partner in the same house of Reichard & Co., 
now absent, whose funds are managed by ihat 
house. I find M. Paosher & Co., bankers, whose 
clerks and employes formed a part of the French 
legion, organized to fight the United Slates, and 
who contributed largely to arm and equip that 
corps. And a Mr. Lewis, whose antecedents I 
have not had time to investigate. 

"And these are fair specimens of the neutral- 
ity of the foreigners, for whom the government 
is called upon to interfere, to prevent their pay- 
ing anything toward the Relief Fund for their 
starving countrymen. 



" If the representatives of the foreign govera- 
ments will feed their own .starving people, over 
whom the only protection they extend, so far as 
I see, is to tax them all, poor and rich, a dollar 
and a half each for certificates of nationahty, I 
will release tlie foreigners from all the exactions, 
fines, and imposts whatever." 

There is the whole case, written out, as all of 
General Butler's dispatches were, late at night, 
after twelve or fifteen hours of intense exertion. 
After such a reaper there is scanty gleaning. 

Let me add, liowever, that among the docu> 
ments relating to the expedition may be found 
many little notes, written in an educated, femi- 
nine hand, conveying to General Butler the 
thanks of '' Sister Emily," "Mother Alphonso," 
and other Catholic ladies, for the assistance 
afforded by him to the orphans, the widows, 
and the sick under their charge ; ■' whose 
prayers," they added, "will daily ascend to 
Heaven in his behalf" During the latter half 
of his administration, the charities of New 
Orleans were almost wholly sustained from the 
funds wrung from "neutral" foes by Order 
No. 55. The great Charity hospital received, 
as we have seen, five thousand a month. To 
the orphans of St. Elizabeth, when the public 
funds ran low, the general gave five hundred 
dollars of his own money, besides ordering 
rations from the public stores at his own charge, 
and causing the Confederate notes held by the 
asylum to be disposed of to the best advantage. 
A commission was appointed, after a time, to 
inquire into the condition and needs of all the 
a.sylums, hospital and charity schools in the city, 
and to report the amount of aid proper to he 
allowed to each. The report of the commission 
shows, that the rations granted them by General 
Butler were all that enabled them to continue 
their ministrations to the helpless and the igno- 
rant, the widow, the orphan, and the sick. 

I may afford space for a letter addressed by 
the commanding general to tlie Superior of the 
Sisters of Charity, upon the occasion of the 
accidental injury of their edifice during the 
bombardment of Donaldsonville. It is not pre- 
cisely the kind of utterance which we should 
naturally expect from a "Beast." 

" HBAD-QtTAnTRRS, DrPARTMENT OF THF. GuLF, 

" Nkw Orleans, September 2d, 1862. 

"Madame: — I had no information until the 
reception of your note, that so sad a result to 
tlie sisters of your command had happened from 
tlie bombardment of Donaldsonville. 

"I am very, very sorry that Rear-A.dmiral 
Farragut was unaware that he was injuring 
your establishment by his shells. Any injury 
must have been entirely accidental. The de- 
struction of that town became a necessity. The 
inhabitants harbored a gang of cowardly gueril- 
las, who committed every atrocity; amongst 
others, that of firing upon an unarmed boat 
ciowded wiih women and children, going up the 
coasi, returning to their homes, many of them 
having been at school at New Orleans. 

" It is irnpoasible to allow such acts ; and I 
am only sorry that the righteous punishment 
meted out to them in this instance, as indeed in 
all others, fell quite as heavily upon the inno- 
oent and unotlieuding as upon the guilty. 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



•'No o.i. «au appreciate more fully than my- 
eelf the holy, self-sacrificing labors of the sisters 
of charity. To them our soldiers are daily in- 
debted for the kindest offices. Sisters of all 
mankind, they know no nation, no kindred, 
neither war nor peace. Their all-pervading 
charity is like the boundless love of ' Him who 
died for all,' whose servants they are, and whose 
pure teachings their love illustrates. 

" I repeat the expression of my grief, that 
any harm should have befallen your society of 
sisters ; and I cheerfully repair it, as far as I 
may, in the manner you suggest, by filling the 
order you have sent to the city for provisions 
and medicines. 

" Your sisters in the city will also further 
testify to you, that my officers and soldiers have 
never failed to do to them all in their power to 
aid them in tlieir usefulness, and to lighten the 
burden of their labors. 

" With sentiments of the highest respect, 
believe me, your friend, 

"Benjamin F. Butler. 

"Santa Makia Clara, 

" Superior and Sifter of Charity.'" 

The relief afforded by Order No. 55, liberal as 
it was, did but alleviate the distresses of the 
poor. The whole land was stricken. The fre- 
quent marching of armed bodies swept the coun- 
try of the scanty produce of a soil deserted by 
the ablest of its proprietors In the city, life 
was just endurable; beyond the Union lines, 
most of the people were hungry, half naked, 
and without medicine. 

"The condition of the people here," wrote 
General Butler to General HaUeck, September 
Ist, "is a very alarming one. They literally 
come down to starvation. Not only in the city, 
but in the country: planters who, in peaceful 
times, would have spent the summer at Sara- 
toga, are now on their plantations, essentially 
without food. Hundreds weekly, by stealth, 
are coming across the lake to the city, reporting 
starvation on the lake shore. I am distributing, 
in various ways, about fifty thousand dollars per 
month in food, and more is needed. This is to 
the whites. My commissary is issuing rations 
to the amount of nearly double the amount 
required by the troops. This is to the blacks. 

" They are now coming in by hundreds — say 
thousands — almost daily. Many of the planta- 
tions are deserted along the 'coast,' which, in 
this country's phrase, means the river, from the 
city to Natchez. Crops of sugar-cane are left 
standing, to waste, which would make miUions 
of dollars worth of sugar." 

Such were some of the fruits of this most dis- 
astrous and most beneficent of all wars. Such 
were some of the difficulties with which the 
sommander of the Department of the Gulf had 
to contend during the whole period of his admin- 
istration. Clothed witli powers more than impe- 
rial, such were some of the uses to which those 
powers were devoted. 

The government sustained Order No. 55. In 
December, the money derived from it having 
been exhausted, the measure was repeated. 

"New Oblbans, Decemlter 9, 1862. 

" Under General Order No. 55, current series, 
irom these head-quarters, an assessment was 



made upon certain parties n^ho had aided the 
rebellion, ' to be appropriated to the relief of 
the starving poor of New Orleans.' " 

"The calls upon the fund raised under that 
order have been frequent and urgent, and it is 
now exhaust-ed. 

" But the poor of this city have the same, or 
increased necessities for relief as then, and their 
calls must be heard; and it is both fit and 
proper that the parties responsible for the pres- 
ent state of affairs should have the burden of 
their support. 

"Therefore, the parties named in Schedules 
A and B, of General Order No. 55, as hereunto 
annexed, are assessed in like sums, and for the 
same purpose, and will make payment to D. C. 
G. Field, financial clerk, at his office, at these 
head-quarters, on or before Monday, December 
15, 1862." 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



It concerns the people of the United States to 
know that secession, regarded as a spiritual 
malady, is incurable. Every one knows this 
who, by serving on " the frontiers of the re- 
bellion," has been brought in contact with its 
leaders. General Rosecrans knows it. General 
Grant knows it. General Burnside knows it. 
General Butler knows it. True, a large number 
of Southern men wno have been touched with, 
the epidemic, have recovered or are recovering. 
But the hundred and fifty thousand men who 
own the slaves of the South, who own the best 
of the lands, who have always controlled its 
pohtics and swayed its drawing-rooms, in whom 
the disease is hereditary or original, whom it 
possesses and pervades, like the leprosy or the 
scrofula, or, rather, like the falseness of the 
Stuarts and the imbecility of the Bourbons — 
these men will remain, as long as they draw the 
breath of life, enemies of all tlie good meaning 
which is summed up in the words. United 
States. It is from studying the characters of 
these people that we moderns may learn why 
it was that the great Cromwell and his heroes 
called the adherents of the mean and cruel 
Stuarts by the name of " Malignauts." They 
may be rendered innoxious by destroying their 
power, i. e., by abolishing slavery, which is their 
power ; but, as to converting them from the 
error of their minds, that is not possible. 

General Butler was aware of this from the 
beginning of the rebellion, and his experience in 
New Orleans was daily confirmation of his belief. 
Hence, his attitude toward the ruling class was 
warlike, and he strove in all ways to isolate that 
class, and bring the majority of the people to see 
who it was that had brought all this needless 
ruin upon tlieir state ; and thus to array the 
majority against the few. Throwing the whole 
weight of his power against the oligarchy, he 
endeavored to save and conciliate the peojJle, 
whom it was the secret design of the leaders to 
degrade and disfranchise. He was in New Or- 
leans as a general wielding the power of his 
government, and as a democrat representing its 
principles. 



86 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



The first monili of his ndtuiiustratioa was sig- 1 served the mode ia which the Union soldiers 
nahzed by several warhke acts aud utterances, i stationed there were accustomed to behave when 



aimed at the Spirit of Secession ; some of which 
excited a clamor throughout the whole secession 
world, on both continents, echoes of which are 
still occasionally heard. 

The following requires no explanation : 

"New Orleans, May 13, 1862. 

" It having come to the knowledge of the com- 
manding general that Friday next is proposed to 
be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, in 
obedience to some supposed proclamation of one 
Jefferson Davis, in the several churches of this 
city, it is ordered that no such observance be 
had. 

" ' Churches and religious houses are to be 
kept open as in time of profound peace,' but no 
religious exercises are* to be had upon the 
supposed authority above mentioned." 

This was General Order No. 27. The one 
next issued, the famous Order No. 28, which 
relates to the conduct of some of the vvonieu of 
New Orleans, can not be dismissed quite so 
summarily. 

One might have expected to find among the 
women of the South many abolitionists of the 
most " radical" description. As upon the white 
race the blighting curse of slavery chiefly falls, 
so the women of that lace sufter the conse 
quences of the system which are the mo:>t de 



passing by ladies who wore the secession flag 
on their bosoms. The ladies, on approaching a 
soldier, would suddenly throw aside their cloaks 
or shawls to display the badge of treason. The 
soldier would retort by lifting the tail of his 
coat, to show the rebel flag doing duty, appar- 
ently, as a large patch on the seat of his trousers. 
The general noted the circumstance well. It 
occurred to him then, that, perhaps, a more 
decent way could be contrived to *shame the 
heroines of secession out of their silly tricks. 

The women of New Orleans by no means con- 
fined themselves to the display of minute rebel 
flags on their persons. They were insolently 
and vulgarly demonstrative. They would leave 
the sidewalk, on the approach of Union officers, 
and walk around them into the middle of the 
the street, with up-turned noses and insulting 
words. On passing privates, they would make 
a great ostentation of drawing away their 
dresses, as if from the touch of pollution. Se- 
cession colors were conspicuously worn upon the 
bonnets. If a Union officer entered a street 
car, all the ladies in it would frequently leave 
the vehicle, with every expression of disgust ; 
even in church the same spirit was exhibited — 
ladies leaving the pews entered by a Union 
officer. The female teachers of the public schools 
kept their pupils singing rebel songs, and ad- 
grading aud the most painful. It leads their I vised the girls to make manifest their contempt 
husbands astray, debauches their brothers and for the soldiers of the Union. Parties of ladies 
their sous, enervates aud coarsens their daughters, upon the balconies of houses, would turn their 



The wastefulness of the institution, its bunglin^ 
stupidity, the heavy aud needless burdens i't 
imposes upoii house-keepers, would come home, 
we should think, to the minds of all women not 
wholly incapable of reflection. I am able to 
state, that here and there, in the South, even in 
the cottou slates, there are ladies who feel all 
the enormity, aud comprehend the immense 
stupidity of slavery. I have heard them avow 
their abhorreoee of it. One iu particular, I re- 
member, ou the borders of South Carolina itself, 
a mother, glancing covertly at her languid son, 
and saying in the low tone of despair; 

'■ You cannot tell me anything about slavery^ 
We women know what it is, if the men do noi." 

But it is the law of nature that llie UK-n aud 
women of a community sliall be morally equal. 
If all the women were made, by miracle, per- 
fectly good, and all the men perfectly bad, in one 
generation the moi'al equality ,would be restored, 
the men vastly improved, tlie women reduced to 
the average of human worth. Consequently, we 
find the women of the South as much oonupLed 



backs when soldiers were passing by; while one 
of them would run in to the piano, and thump 
out the Bonny Blue Flag, with the energy that 
lovely woman knows how to throw into a per- 
formance of that kind. One woman, a very fine 
lady, too, swept away her skirts, on oue occasion, 
witli so much violence, as to lose her balance, 
and she fell into the gutter. The two officers 
whose proximity had excited her ire, approached 
to offer their assistance. She spurned them from 
her, saying, that she would rather lie in the gutter 
than be helped out by Yankees. She afterward 
related the circumstance to a Uuion officer, and 
owned that she had in reality felt grateful to the 
officers for their politeness, and added that 
Order No. 28 served the women right. The 
climax of these absurdities was reached when a 
beast of a woman spat in the faces of two 
officers, who were walking peacefuUy along the 
street. 

It was this last event which determined 
Greneral Butler to take public notice of the con- 
duct of the women. At first their exhibitions 



by slavery as the men, and not less zealous than i aud affectations of spleen merely amused the 
the men iu this insolent attempt to rend their objects of them ; who were accustomed to relate 
country in pieces. In truth, they are moi-e them to their comrades as the jokes of the day. 
zealous, smce women are naturally more veiie- | And so far, no officers or soldiers had done or 
meut and enthusiastic than men. The women | said anything in the way of retort. No man iu 
of New Orleans, too, all had husband-;, sons. New Orleans had been wronged, no woman had 



brothers, loveis or friends, in the Confederate 
army. To blame the women of a community lor 



been treated with disrespect by the soldiers of the 
United States. These things were done while 



adhering, with their whole souls, to a cause lor ' General Butler was feeding the poor of the oity 
which their husbands, brothers, sons aud lovers ' 
are fighting, would be to arraign the laws of 
nature. But then there is a choice of methods 
by which that adherence may be maui/ested. 

When General Butler was passing through 
Baltimore, on his way to New Orleans, he ob- 



by thousands ; while he was working night and 
day to start and restore the business of the city ; 
while he was defending the people against the 
frauds of great capitalists ; while he was main- 
taining such order in New Orleans as it had 
never known before ; while he was maturing 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



87 



measures dcsigued solelv for the benefit of the 
city ; while he was testifying in every way, by 
word and deed, his heartfelt desire to exert all 
the great powers intrusted to him for the good 
of New Orleans and Louisiana. 

It can not be denied that both ofiScers and 
men became, at length, very sensitive to these 
annoyances. Complaints to the general were 
frequent. Colonels of resimeuts requested to be 
informed what orders they should give their men 
on the subject, and the younger staff officers often 
asked the general to save them from indignities 
whicii they could neither resent nor endure. 
"Why, indeed, should he permit his brave and vir- 
tuous New England soldiers to be insulted by 
those silly, vulgar creatures, spoiled by contact 
with slavery ? And how long could he trust the 
forbearance of the troops ? These questions he 
had already cousidered, but the extreme difficulty 
of acting in such an affair with dignity and effect, 
had given him pause. But when the report of 
the spitting was brought to him, he determined 
TO put a stop to such outrages before they pro- 
voked retaliation. 

It has been said, that the false construction 
put upon General Order No. 28, by the enemies 
of the United States, was due to the carelessness 
with which it was composed. Mr. Seward, in 
his conversation on the subject with the English 
charge, " regretted that, in the haste of compo- 
sition, a piiraseology which could be mistaken or 
perverted had been used." The secretary of 
state was never more mistaken. The order was 
penned with the utmost care and deliberation, 
and aJl its probable consequences discussed. Tiie 
problem was, how to put an end to the insulting 
behavior of the women without beiug obliged to 
resort to arrests. So far. New Orleans had been 
kept down by the mere show and presence of 
tbrce ; it was highly desirable, for reasons of hu- 
manity as well as policy, that this should con- 
tinue to be the case. Ifthe order had said: Any 
woman who insults a Union soldier shall be ar- 
rested, committed to the calaboose and fined, — 
there would have been women who would have 
courted the distinction of arrest, to the great 
peril of the public tranquillity. If anything at all 
could have roused the populace to resist the 
troops, surely it would have been the arrest of a 
well-dressed woman, for so popular an act as in- 
sulting a soldier of the United States. 

It was with the intent to accomplish the object 
without disturbance, that General Butler worded 
the order as we find it. The order was framed 
upon the model of one which he had read long 
ago in an ancient London chronicle. 

" HbAD-QUARTERS, DrPARTMENT of the GtTLF, 

"Nkw Orlkans, May 15, 1862. 

" General Order No. 28 : 

" As the officers and soldiers of the United 
States liave been subject to repeated insults from 
the women (calling themselves ladies) of New 
Orleans, in return for the most scrupulous non- 
interference and courtesy on our part, it is or- 
dered that hereafter when any female shall, by 
word, gesture, or movement, insult or show con- 
tempt for any officer or soldier of the United 
St;ttes, she shall be regarded and held liable to 
b© treated as a woman of the town plying her 
avocation. By command of 

Major-General Butler. 

" Gbo. C. Strong, A. A. O., Chief of Staff." 



That is, she shall be held liable, according to the 
law of New Orleans, to be arrested, detained over 
night in the calaboose, brought before a magis- 
tr-ate in the morning, and fined five dollars. 

When the order had been written, and was 
about to be consigned to irrevocable priut, a lead- 
ing member of the staff" (Major Strong) said to 
General Butler : 

•' After all, general, is it not possible that some 
of the troops may misunderstand the order? It 
would be a great scandal if only onu man should 
act upon it in the wrong way." 

" Let us, then," replied the general, " have one 
case of aggression on our side. I shall know how 
to deal with that case, so that it will never be 
repeated. So far, all the aggressiim has been 
against us. Here we are, conquerors in a con- 
quered city ; we have respected every right, tried 
every means of conciliation, complied with every 
reasonable desire ; and yet we can not walk the 
streets without being outraged and spit upon by 
green girls. I do not fear the troops ; but if ag- 
gression must be, let it not be all against ?«." 

General Butler was, of course, perfectly aware, 
as we are, that if he had expressly commanded 
his troops to outrage and ravish every woman 
who insulted them, those men of New England 
and the West would not have thought of obeying 
him. If one miscreant among them had at- 
tempted it, the public opinion of his regiment 
would have crushed him. Every one who knows 
the men of that army feels how impossible it was 
that any of them should practically misinterpret 
an order of wliich the proper and innocent 
meaning was so palpable. 

The order was published. Its success was im- 
mediate and perfect. Not that the women did 
not still continue, with the ingenKity of the sex, 
to manifest their repugnance to the troops. They 
did so. The piano still greeted the passing offi- 
cer with rebel airs. The fair countenances of 
the ladies were still averted, and their skirts 
gently held aside. Still the balconies presented 
a view of the "back "hair" of beauty. If the 
dear creatures did not leave the car when an offi- 
cer entered it, tbey stirred not to give him room 
to sit down, and would not see his polite offer to 
hand their ticket to the driver. (No conductors 
in the street cars of New Orleans.) It was a 
fashion to affect sickness at the stomach on such 
occasions ; which led the Delta to remark, that 
ladies should remember that but for the presence 
of the Union forces some of the squeamish stom- 
achs would have nothing in them. But the out- 
rageous demonstrations ceased. No more insult- 
ing words were uttered ; and all the affectations 
of disgust were such as could be easily and 
properly borne by officers and men. Gradually 
even these were discontinued. 

I need not add, that in no instance was the or- 
der misunderstood on the part of the troops. No 
man in the whole world misunderstood it who 
was not glad of any pretext for reviling the sa- 
cred cause for which the United States has been 
called to contend. So far from causing the 
women of New Orleans to be wronged or mo- 
lested, it was that which saved them from the 
only danger of molestation to wiiich they were 
exposed. It threw around them the protection 
of law, not tore it away ; and such was the com- 
pleteness of its success, that not one arrest unde^ 
Order No. 28 has ever been made. 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



General Butler was not lon.ij in discovering 
that the order was to he made the occasion of a 
prodigious hue and cry jigainst his administra- 
tion. The puppet mayor of Xew Orleans was 
the first to lift his little voice against it; which 
led to important consequences. 

Tt had already become apparent to the gen- 
eral and to the officers aiding him, that two 
powers so hostile as the cily government of New 
Orleans and the commander of the Department 
of the Gulf could not co-operatf> — could not 
long exist together. The mayor and common 
council had violated their compact with the 
general in every particular. They had agreed 
to clean the streets, and had not done it. They 
had engaged to enrol] two hundred and fifty of 
the property-holders of the town to assist in 
keeping the peace, that General Butler miglit 
safely withdraw his troops. The two hundred 
and fifty proved to be men of tiie "Thug" spe- 
cies — the hangers-on of the City Hall. The 
European Brigade was to be retained in service ; 
the mayor disbanded it. Provisions had been 
sent out of the starving city to the hungry camp 
of General Lovell. Confederate notes, which 
had fallen to thirty cents, were redeemed l)y 
the city government at par, thus taxing the city 
one hundred cents to give tliirty to the favorites 
of the mayor and council ; for the redemption 
wa8 not public and universal, but special and 
private. The tone and style of tlie city govern- 
ment, too, were a perpetual reiteration of the 
assertion, so dear to the deluded people of the 
city, that New Orleans had not been conquered 
— only overcome by " brute force." Nothing 
but the general's extreme desire to give the 
arrangement of May 4th so fair a trial that the 
whole world would hold him guiltless in dissolv- 
ing it, prevented his seizing upon the govern- 
ment of the city on the ninth of May. 

On the day on which the order appeared in 
the newspapers, the mayor sent to General But- 
ler the following letter, which was written for 
him by his secretary, Mr. Duncan, formerly of 
the Delta : 

"State of LfinsrANA, 

"Mavorai.tt of Nkw Oblrans, 

•'May 16, 1862. 

"Major-Q-enpral Benjamin F. Butler, Commnnding: 
United States Forces: 

"Sir: — Tour General Order, No. 28. of dute 
15th inst., which reads as follows, is of a char- 
acter so extraordinary and astonishing that T 
can not, holdins: tlie office of chief mngistrate of 
the city, cliargeabie with its peace and dignity, 
suffer it to be promulgated in our presence 
without protesting a'^ainst the threat it contains, 
which has already aroused the passions of our 
people, and must exasperate them to a degree 
beyond control. Your officers and soldiers are 
permitted, by the terms of this order, to place 
any construction they may please upon the con- 
duct of our wives and daughters, and, upon 
such construction, to offer them atrocious insults. 
The peace of the city and ti)e safety of your offi- 
cers and soldiers from harm and insult have, I 
affirm, been successfully secured to an extent 
enabling them to move through our streets 
almost unnoticed, according to the understand- 
tne and agreement entered into between your- 
self and the city authorities. I did not, how- 
ever, anticipate a war upon women and children. 



who, so far as T am aware, have only manifested 
their displeasure at the occupation of their city 
by those whom they believe to be their enemies, 
and I will never undertake to be responsible for 
the peace of New Orleans while sudi an edict, 
which infuriates our citizens, remains in force. 
To give a license to the officers and soldiers of 
your command to commit outrages, such as are 
indicated in your order, upon defenseless women 
is, in my judgment, a reproadi to the civilization, 
not to say to the Christianity, of the age, in 
whose name I make this protest. I am, sir, 
your obedient servant, 

" John T. Monkoe, Mayor." 

To this General Butler replied with prompt- 
n-ess and brevity, and sent his reply by the 
hands of the provost- marshal : 

" Head-q(tarters, Department of the Gflf, 
"New Orleans, Jtfay 16, 1862. 

"John T. Monroe, late mayor of the city of 
New Orleans, is relieved from all responsibility 
for the peace of the city, and is suspended from 
the exercise of any official functions, and com- 
mitted to Fort Jiickson until farther orders. 

B. F. Butler, Major- General Commanding. 

The mayor, however, was indulged with an 
interview with the commanding general. He 
remonstrated against the order for his imprison- 
ment. The general told him, in reply, that if 
he could no longer control the " aroused pas- 
sions of the people of New Orleans," it was 
highly necessary that he should not only be 
relieved from any further responsibility for the 
tranquillity of the city, but l>e sent himself to a 
place of safety ; which Fort Jackson was. The 
letter, added the general, was an insult which 
no officer, representing the majesty of the United 
States in a captured city, ought to submit to. 
The mayor, whose courage always oozed away 
in the presence of General Butler, declared that 
he had had no intention to insult the general: 
he had only intended to vindicate the honor of 
the virtuous ladies of New Orleans. 

"No vindication is neces'iary." said General 
Butler. " because the order does not contemplate 
or allude to virtuous women." None such, he 
believed, could have meant to insult his officers 
or men by word, look, or gesture, and the order 
was aimed only at those who had. 

Finding the mayor pliant and reasonable, as 
he always was in the absence of his supporters. 
General Butler expounded the order to him at 
great length, and with perfect courtesy. The 
mavor then declared that he was perfectly satis- 
fifd, and asked to be allowed to withdraw his 
offensive letter. General Butler, knowing well 
the necessity, in all dealings with puppets, of 
having something to show in writing, wrote the 
following words at the end of the mayor's letter : 

"General Butler: — This communication 
having been sent under a mistake of fact, and 
being improper in language, I desire to apologize 
for the same, and to '.vithdraw it." 

This the mayor signed, and the general re- 
lieved him from arrest. The mayor then depart', 
ea, and the general hoped he had done with 
Order Nol 28 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



89' 



It was very fur, however, from the iotention 
of the gentlemen who had ihe mayor of New 
Orleans in charge, to forego their opportunity of 
firing the southern heart. In the evening of the 
same 16th of May, General Butler received the 
following note : 

"Mayoralty op New Orleans, 
"City Hall, May Id, 1S62. 

" Major-General BtJTLER : 

" Sir : — Having misunderstood you yesterday 
in relation to your General Order No. 28, 1 wish 
to withdraw the indorsement I made on the let- 
ter addressed to you yesterday. Please deliver 
the letter to my secretary, Mr. Duucan, who will 
hand you this note. Your obedient servant, 
"John T. Monroe." 

General Butler immediately replied in the fol- 
lowing terms : 

"Hk AD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, 

"New Orleans, 3iay 16, 1862. 
"Sir: — There can be, there has been, no 
room for the misunderstanding of General Order 
No. 28. 

" No lady will take any notice of a strange 
gentleman, and a foriiwi of a stranger, in such 
fonn as to attract attention. Common women do. 

" Therefore, whatever woman, lady or mistress, 
gentle or simple, who, by gesture, look or word, 
insults, shows contempt for, thus attracting to 
herself the notice of my officers or soldiers, will 
be deemed to act as becomes her vocation of com- 
mon woman, and will be liable to be treated ac- 
cordingly. This was most fully explained to you 
at my office. 

"I shall not, as I have not, abated a single 
word of that order; it was well considered. If 
obeyed, it will protect the true and modest wo- 
man from all possible insult. The others will 
take care of themselves. 

"You can publish your letter, if you publish 
this note, and your apology. 

" Respectfully, Benjamin F. Butler, 

^^ Major- Qeneral Commanding. 
"John T. Monroe, Mayor of Nexo Orleans.'''' 

To this the mayor replied by sending to the 
general a copy of his first letter. General Butler 
summoned him again to head-quarters; he came 
accompanied by his secretary, Duncan. In the 
presence of the general his courage failed him 
again, and he declared that lie did not wish to 
Bend the oflensive letter if he could publish what 
the general had said to him yesterday, that Order 
No. 28 did nut refer to all the ladies of New Or- 
leans. With even an excess of patience, the gen- 
eral replied, that to prevent all possibUty of mis- 
understanding he would put in writing at the 
bottom of a copy of the order a statement in ac- 
cordance with the mayor's desires, which he would 
be at liberty to publish. So he wrote: 

" You may say that this order refers to those 
women who have shown contempt for, and in- 
sulted my soldiers, by words, gestures, and move- 
ments, in their presence. B. F. Butler." 

Duncan asked the insertion of the word " only" 
after " women.'" The general assented to this 
also ; when the mayor and his secretary retired, 
taking the documents with them. Again Gen- 
eral Butler indulged in the hope that the afiair I Do you sustain the mayor in reiterating the 
was satisfactorily adjusted. ! letter ?" 



Far from it. The next morning, which was 
Sunday, the mayor and a large party of his frienda 
presented themselves at the private parlor of the 
general. The mayor said that he had come for 
the purpose of withdrawing his apology. General 
Butler replied that Sunday was not a businesa 
day with him, but if the Mayor desired to with- 
draw his apology, and would place himself, on 
Monday morning, in the chair in which he had 
sat when he had signed it, he should have a full 
opportunity to do so. The general added, that 
he would be glad to see him the next morning, 
and as many friends as he chose to bring with 
him. 

Meanwhile, information had been brought to 
head-quarters of a conspiracy among the paroled 
rebel prisoners in New Orleans, to procure arms- 
and force their way beyond the Uuion lines and. 
join General Lovell. Six of thism iiad been ar- 
rested. The conspirators, it appeared, had called 
themselves the Monroe Guard, after the mayor, 
from whom they expected substantial aid — had 
probably received substantial aid already. The 
general was resolved to make short work with the 
mayor at their next interview. 

On Monday morning tlte mayor presented him- 
self at head-quarters, accompanied by his chief of 
police, a lieutenant of police, his private sect etary, 
one of the city judges, and several others of his- 
special backers ; seven or eight persons in all. 
General Butler did not wait tor the attack of this 
imposing force, but opened upon them as soon as 
they were in position. He made a clear and for- 
cible statement of the many ways in which the 
city government had failed to observe the com- 
pact of May 4th. He told them that while he 
had been employing all the resources of his mind 
and of his position to keep the poor of the city 
from starving, tiie whole power and means of the 
city authorities had been expended in supporting 
the Confederate cause — by sending provisions to 
Lovell's camp, by contributing money for the 
maintenance of Confederate agents in the city, 
and by placing every obstacle in the way of the 
purificatioa of the streets. He announced the 
discovery of the conspiracy among the paroled 
prisoners, the sentence of six of them to death.;, 
and discoursed upon the signiticance of the nam- 
ing the corps after the mayor. All this confiict 
of authority and moral influence must cease, and 
cease at once. He had resolved to have no mor& 
of " this weathercock business." 

After a long interview, he brought the matter 
to a very simple and direct issue. He saw before 
him the men who had inspired and upheld the 
mayor in his unnatural and unwilling contumacy. 
To each of them he addressed a question, the an- 
swer to which would ti.v his political position and 
indicate his liiture course: 

"Judge Kennedy, do you sanction the mayor's 
letter in its substance and ettect ?" 

Answer: "I sustain no insulting expression 
ia this lette: The construction which the letter 
puts upen the order is the construction put upon 
it in this city generally. If I had been in the 
mayor's place, I should have claimed a modiiica- 
tion, or an announcement of its intended con- 
struction." 

General Butler ; " Do 3-ou not believe the letter 
insulting? Do you aid and abet the mayor? 



■90 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



Kennedy : " I can not aaswer. I will answer 
neither yes nor no, for tiie simple reason that it 
will not cover tbe position I take. I would not 
in any communication with General Butler, use 
insulting language myself." 

The question was then proposed to the other 
gentlemen in turn. 

Chief of Police ; " I do sustain the mayor." 

Lieutenant of Police : " I have not given the 
letter a thought. I have never read the letter 
before." 

Mr. Harris : The same answer. 

M. Whann : " I do not sustain or repudiate the 
letter, as I know nothing about it. 

Mr. Peltigrew : " I sustain the mayor." 

Mr. Duncan confessed to having "assisted in 
the composition of the letter." 

General Sutler then ordered the committal to 
Fort Jackson of the late mayor, the chief ofpolice. 
Judge Kennedy and Mr. Duncan. The others 
were dismissed. The mayor, finally wished to 
know if his apology would be considered with- 
drawn. General Butler assured him that when 
the letter and the apology were published, the 
withdrawal of the apology should be distinctly 
stated. 

The mayor ttos afterward removed to Fort 
Pickens. The ofl'er was always open to him to 
take the oath and return home. Some of his 
friends, it is said, prevailed upon him, at length, 
to return home upon that hard condition; and 
General Butler consenting, his wife went to Fort 
Pickens after him. The officer who accompanied 
her chanced to hand the mayor a newspaper 
which contained a positive announcement that 
France had recognized the Confederacy. The 
worthy mayor instantly changed his mind, refused 
to take the oath, and permitted a faithful spouse 
CO depart without him. 

The mayor being deposed, the executive part 
•of the city government was at once suspended, 
and the business of governing New Orleans 
■devolved upon the military commandant. Gen- 
eral G. F. Shepley, of Slaiue. The woman 
order, however, merely hastened an event which 
the expiration of tlie mayor's term of office 
would have effected in a few days; for General 
Butler had already determined that no man 
should again be elected to office in New Orleans 
who had not taken the oath of allegiance to his 
•country's government. 

General Shepley proceeded with vigor to 
organize the goverumeut. Colonel French ad- 
vertised for five hundred policemen. Judicious 
appointments were made in every department, 
and the municipal revolution was accomplished 
without disturbance. Among General Shepley's 
first orders we notice the following : 

"general orders. 

"Off'.ob Military Commandant of New Orlbans, 
"CiTV Hall, J/ay 2S, 1S62. 

" Hereafter in the churches in the city of 
New Orleans, prayers will not be oSered up for 
the destruction of the Union or constitution of 
the United States, lor the success of rebel armies, 
for tiie Confederate States, so called, or any offi- 
cers of the same, civil or military, in their official 
capacity. 

"While protection will be afforded to all 
churches, religious houses, and establislimeuts, 
•and religious 'services are to be held as in times 



of profound peace,' this protection will not be 
allowed to be perverted to the upholding of trea- 
son or advocacy of it in any form. 

" Where thus perverted, it will be withdrawn. 
"G. F. Shepley, Military Commandant." 

This order was complied with only in the let- 
ter. Thenceforward, on reaching that part of the 
service where prayers were accustomed to be 
offered for Jefferson Davis, the minister would 
say: "Let us now spend a few moments in 
silent prayer." 

After suppressing the city government, it 
seemed to General Butler unjust and unwise to 
permit that potent instigator and director of trea- 
son, Mr. Pierre Soule, to remain in the city. It 
was he who had assisted in the composition of 
the mayor's insolent letter to Captain Farragut. 
It was he who had countenanced, perhaps 
caused, the burning of the cotton. It was he 
who was the moral support of the contumacy 
of secession in New Orleans. Upon bim seces- 
sion chiefly relied to give it voice and effect. 
General Butler was clearly of opinion that to 
render New Orleans a dead thing to secession, it 
was indispensable to send away a man so pow- 
erful to nourish hostility to the Union. Captain 
Conant accomplished the arrest with his usual 
tact, and Mr. Soule, after ample time to arrange 
his private business, was consigned to Fort 
Warren, in Boston harbor. General Butler, 
some time afterward, requested the government 
to release the prisoner on his parole not to return 
to New Orleans, nor commit or advise any act 
hostile to the United States, which was done. 

Few men have had a more varied career than 
Pierre Soule. A native of France — a Paris 
lawyer — a Paris journalist — a fugitive to the 
West Indies — an emigrant to New Orleans — a 
lawyer there of brilliant position — a senator of 
tlie United States — a minister to Madrid, where 
he wounded the French embassador in a duel — 
a member of the Ostend Cuba-coveting confer- 
ence — a lawyer again in New Orleans — a Union- 
ist — a rebel — a prisoner of state. 

Before taking leave of the woman order and 
its consequences, it is proper to notice the use 
made of it by the enemies of the United States. 
The screech which arose from all parts of Seces- 
sia furnishes another proof that this rebellion, 
which was begun in falsehood, has been sus- 
tained by falsehood alone. I will give here one 
or two of the rebel comments. 

The following "appeal" appeared in most of 
the southern papers : 

" An Appeal to every Southern Soldier. 
— We turn to you in mute agony 1 Behold our 
wrongs! Fathers 1 husbands! brothers! sons! 
we know these bitter, burning wrongs will be 
fully avenged — never did southern women ajj- 
peal in vain for protection from insult! But, 
for the sake of your sisters throughout the south, 
with tears we implore you not to surrender 
your cities, ' in consideration of the defenseless 
women and children!' Do not leave your 
women to the mercy of this merciless foe I 
Would it not have been better for New Orleans 
to have beeu laid in ruins, and \ve buried up 
beneath the mass, than that we should be sub- 
jected to these untold sufferings? Is life so 
precious a boon that, lor the preservation of it, 



THE WOMAN ORDER. 



91 



no sacrifice is too great ? Ah, no 1 ah, no 1 
Rather let us die with you, oh, our fathers I 
Rather, like Virginius, plunge your own swords 
into our breasts, saying, ' This is all we can 
give our daughters.' 

" The D.A.UGHTERS op New Orleans. 

" New 0RI.EAN8, May 24, 1862."' 

A fair and indignant Georgian wrote to one 
of the newspapers of Savannah : 

" Editor of the Republican : — Seeing your spir- 
ited notice in this morning's paper, of the offer 
of a noble Mississippian to give a reward of 
$10,000 for the infamous Biiller's head, can you 
Bot suggest, through your valuable journal, the 
propriety of every woman in our Confederacy 
contributing her mite to triple the sum, for a 
consummation dear to the insulted honor of our 
countrj'women, one and all ? 

" Respectfully, A Savannah Woman. 

" Savannah, June 10, 1862." 

It pleased the Enghsh friends of the Confed- 
eracy, to place upon Order No. 28, the same 
preposterous construction. For them, however, 
there was this e.xcuse : they had read " Napier's 
History of the Peninsular "War." They knew 
how savages in red coats had been wont to con- 
duct themselves in captured cities, and naturally 
concluded that patriots in blue would follow 
their example. But it is difficult to believe in 
the sincerity of noble lords and members of the 
house of commons, when they adopted and 
echoed back the rebel screech. We hesitate to 
think that men intrusted with the government 
of a great country can be so easily taken in. 

Punch, too, whose laugh was always humane 
and just, till the slaveholders of the southern 
states rose in arms against ail that Englishmen 
used to hold dear, had his little song on the 
subject : 

" Haynau's lash toie woman's back. 
When she riz his dander. 
Butler, by his edict black, 

Stumps that famed commander. 
Wreaking upon maid and dame 

Savagery subtler : 
None but Nena Sahib name 
Along with General Butler. 

Yankee doodle, doodle doo, 

Yankee doodle dandy ; 
Butler is a rare Yahoo, 
As brave as Sepoy Pandy." 

General Butler could not have been quite in- 
different to vituperation like this — no man could 
have been. He took no public notice of it at 
the time, having more important affairs upon 
his hands ; but among his private letters, there 
is one which briefly vindicates the order. 

"I am as jealous," he wrote, "of the good 
opinion of my friends as I am careless of the 
slanders of my enemies, and your kind expres- 
sions with regard to Order 28 lead me to say a 
word to you on the subject. 

" That it could ever have been so miscon- 
ceived as it has been by some portions of the 
northern press, is wonderful, and would lead me 
to exclaim, with the Jew, ' ! Father Abraham, 
what these Christians are, whose own hard deal- 
ings teach them to suspect the tlioughts of 
others 1" 

" What was the state of things to which the 
woman order appUed? 



" We were two thousand five hundrnd men, 
in a city seven miles long by two to four wide, 
of a hundred and fift}' thousand inhabitants, all 
hostile, bitter, deiiant, explosive ; standing liter- 
ally on a magazine, a spark only needed for de- 
struction. The devil had entered the hearts of 
the women of this town (you know seven of them 
chose Mary Magdalene for a residence) to stir up 
strife in every way possible. Every opprobious 
epithet, every insulting gesture, was made by 
these be-jeweled, crinolined and laced creatures, 
calling themselves ladies, toward my soldiers 
and officers, from the windows of houses and in 
the streets. How long do you suppose our flesh 
and blood could have stood this without retort? 
That would have led to disturbances and riot, 
from which we must have cleared the streets 
with artillery — and then a howl tha; we had mur- 
dered these tine women. I had arrested the 
men who had hurrahed for Beauregard. Could 
I arrest the women ? No. What was to be 
done ? No order could be made save one which 
would execute itself With anxious care, I 
thought I bad hit upon this : " Women who 
insult my soldiers are to be regarded and treated 
as common women, plying their vocation.' 

"Pray, how do you treat a common woman 
plying her vocation in the streets? You pass 
lier by unheeded. She cannot insult you. As 
a gentleman, you can and will take no notice of 
her. If she speaks, her words are not oppro- 
brious. It is only when she becomes a continuous 
and positive nuisance, that you call a watchman 
and give her in charge to him. 

" But some of the northern editors seem to 
think that whenever one meets such a woman, 
we must stop her, talk with her, insult her, hold 
dalliance with her, and so from their osvu con- 
duct they construed my order. 

" The editor of the Boston Courier may so 
deal with common women, and out of the abun- 
dance of his heart his mouth may speak. But 
so do not L 

" Why, these she-adders of New Orleans 
themselves were at once tamed into propriety oi 
conduct by the order, and from that day no 
woman has either insulted or annoyed any live 
soldier or oSicer, and of a certainly no soldier 
has insulted any woman. 

" When I passed through Baltimore on the 
23d or' February last, members of my staff were 
insulted by the gestures of the ladies (?) there. 
Not so in New Orleans. * * * 

" I can only say that I would issue the order 
again under like circumstances." 

Among the women of New Orleans there were 
some who knew how to maintain, and even 
assert, their fidelity to the Confederate cause, 
without forgetting the courtesy due to officers 
of the United States, who were simply doing 
tlieir duty. To such General Butler and his 
staff were as complaisant as their duty permitted. 
The case of Mrs. Slocomb and her daughter Mrs. 
Urquhart, may he cited in illustration. These 
ladies applied for a pass to er^able them to go 
to their country house, but stated wilh courteous 
frankness, that they could not lake the oath of 
allegiance to the United States. At the be- 
ginning of the war, they said, they had desired 
the preservation of the Union : but now all their 
male friends and connections were in the Con- 
federate army ; one of them had lost a son, the 



02 



EXECUTION OF MUMFORD. 



other a brother, in the service ; and the}' were 
LOW unaUerably devoted to the cause, which 
they deemed just, noble and holy. General 
Builer said to them, that he would make pu 
exception to his rule and grant them the pass, 
if they would give up their spacious town liouse 
for the use of the United Stales during their 
absence, as he required such a house for his 
head-quarters. Mrs. Slocomb hesitated. With 
tears in her eyes, she said that her house was 
endeared to her by a thousand tender associa- 
tions, and was now dearer to her than ever. 
She did not see how she could give it up. 

The general said, that he "experienced pe- 
culiar pleasure in meeting ladies who, while 
they were enemies to his country, were yet so 
frank, so truthful and devoted, and remarked 
that if New Orleaus had been defended by an 
army of such women as Mrs. Urquhart, he be- 
lieved the Union army would have had con- 
siderable trouble in capturing the ciiy. In 
regard to their house he assured them that, 
although he had the power to take it, yet with- 
out their permission it should not be occupied, 
nor a brick of it be molested, unless indeed, the 
city was ravaged by yellow fever, in which case 
he might be obliged to take every house suitable 
for hospital purposes ; and he added, if I can 
find any other reason for making you an excep- 
tion to my rule prohibiting passes to any who 
refuse to take the oath, I will do it." 

Happily, he found such a reason. A day or 
two after he wrote to the ladies : " I have the 
pleasure to inform you, that my necessities, 
wliich caused the request for permission to use 
your house during your absence this summer, 
liave been relieved. I have taken the house of 
General Twiggs, late of the United States Army, 
for quarters. Inchned never on slight causes to 
use the power intrusted to me to grieve even 
sentiments only entitled to respect from the 
courage and ladylike propriety of manner in 
which they were avowed ; it is gratifying to be 
enabled to yield to the appeal you made for 
favor and protection by the United States. Yours 
shall be the soliiar}'' exception to the general 
rule adopted, that they who ask protection must 
take upon themselves corresponding obligations 
or do an equal favor to the government. 1 have 
an aged mother at home, who, like you, might 
request the inviolability of hearihstone and roof 
tree from the presence of a stranger. For her 
sake you shall have the pass you ask, which is 
sent herewith. As I did myself the houor to 
say personally, you may leave the city with no 
fear that your house will be interfered with by 
any exercise of military right ; but will be safe 
under the laws of the Unit^'d States. Trusting 
that the inexorable logic of events will convict 
you of wrong toward your country, when all else 
has tailed, 1 remain," etc. 

Mrs. Slocomb acknowledged the favor : " Per- 
mit me to return my sincere thanks for tiie 
special permit to leave, which you have so kindly 
granted to myself and family, as also for the 
protection promised to my property. Knowing 
that we have uo claim for any exception in our 
favor, this generous act calls loudly upon our 
grateful hearts, and hereafter while praying 
earnestly tor the cause we love so much, we 
shall never forget the liberality v/ith which our 
request has been granted by one v/hose power 



here reminds us painfully that our enemies are 
more magnanimous than our citizeiis are brave." 
Another instance. Mrs. Beauregard, tlie wife 
of the Confederate general, and her mother, were 
residing in the mansion of Slidell, the rebel 
emissary to France, who had lent it to them 
during his ab.'^ence. This house being seques- 
tered, Lieutenant Kinsman went to take posses- 
sion, not knowing by whom it was occupied. 
Those distinguished and amiable ladies received 
the officer with dignity and politeness. He 
reported the fact of their occupation of the house 
to the commanding general, who immediately 
ordered that they should be allowed to reside in 
it undisturbed. There they remained, honored 
equally by the Union ofiBcers and by the people 
of the city. 



CHAPTER XV. 

EXECUTION OF MUMFORD. 

The crime for which Mumford suffered death 
has been already related. If in the act of tearing 
down the flag of his country, he had fallen dead 
upon the roof of the Mint, from the fire of the 
howitzers in the main-top of the Peiisacola, no 
one could have charged aught against those who 
had the honor of that flag in charge. His offense 
was two-fold : he insulted the flag of hi.>^ country, 
and endangered the lives of innocent fellow-citi- 
zens by drawing the fire of the fleet. His life 
was justlj- forfeited to the United States and to 
New Orleans. His life, moreover, was not a val- 
uable one ; he was one of those who live by prey- 
ing upon society, not by serving it. He was a 
professional gambler. Rather a fine looking man, 
tall, black-bearded; age, forty-two. 

After the occupation of the city by the troops, 
he still appeared in the streets, bold, reckless and 
defiant, one of the heroes of the populace. He 
was seen even in front of the St. Charles hotel, 
relating his exploit to a circle of admirers, boast- 
ing of it, daring the Union authorities to molest 
him. He did this once too. often. He was ar- 
rested and tried by a military commission, who 
condemned him to death, and General Butlpr ap- 
proved the sentence, and ordered its execution. 

During his trial and atler his condemnatioa, he 
showed neither fear nor contrition ; evidently ex- 
pected a commutation of his sentence, not believ- 
ing that General Butler would dare execute it. 
His Iriends, the Thugs and gamblers of the city, 
opeul}' defied the general; resolved, in council 
assembled, not to petition for his pardon ; bound 
themselves to assassinate Genei'al Butler if Mum- 
ford were hanged. These things were duly re- 
ported to the general by his detective police, and 
were a common topic of conver.sation in the city. 
It was the almost universal belief that the con- 
demned man would be brought to the gallows 
and there reprieved — according to the cruel, 
blank-cartridge mode of weak governments. 

While the friends of Mumtbrd were thus build- 
ing up a wall between him and the chance of 
pardon, the case was further complicated by the 
arrest and condemnation of the six paroled pris- 
oners, part of the Monroe Guard, who had con- 
spired to break away to the rebel camp. Their 
sentence also, the general approved. 



EXECUTION OF MUMFORD. 



93 



Here were seveii men under sentence of death 
at the same time — seven human lives hanging 
upon the word of one man. General Butler is 
not a person of the philanthropical or humanita- 
rian cast of character; which is compatible with 
strange hardness of heart toward individuals. 
Nor is he unaware of the frightful cruelty to so- 
ciety of pardoning men justly condemned. He is 
abundantly capable of preferring the good of the 
many to the convenience of one, and turning a 
deaf ear to the entreaties of a criminal, when, on 
the other hand, stands a wronged community ask- 
ing protection, or an outraged country demanding 
justice upon its mortal foes. The fluid that 
courses his veins is blood, not milk and water. 
Nevertheless, he has the feelings that belong to a 
human being, and these seven forfeited lives hung 
heavy upon his heart. 

In the case of Mumford he had no misgivings. 
He was able to endure the harrowing spectacle 
of the man's wife and three children falling upon 
their knees before him, begging the life of husband 
and father, and yet keep firmly to a just resolve. 
He was able to resist the tears and entreaties of 
his own tender-hearted wife, whose judgment he 
respected, to whose judgment he often deferred. 
Far more easily was he able to defy and scorn the 
threatenings of an impious elan of gamblers and 
ruffians. Mumford must die. That was the de- 
liberate and changeless fiat of his best judgment. 
Nor was he easily induced to alter his deter- 
mination with regard to the six paroled prisoners. 
The events of the war had constantly deepened 
in his mind a sense of the general cruelty of par- 
dons. He could not but think that the LTuiou 
armies would not have lost a hundred thousand 
men by desertion, if, from the beginning, the just 
penalty of death had been inexorably inflicted ; 
no, nor one thousand ; perhaps not one hundred. 
He had imbibed a horror of all those loose, ir- 
resolute, chicken-hearted modes of proceeding, 
which have cost the country such incalculable 
suffering and blood. It is instinctive in such a 
man to know that, in this world, the kindest, as 
well as the wisest of all things, is the rigid ob- 
servance of just law, the exact and prompt inflic- 
tion of just penalty. So, between his sense of 
what was due to those six men, and his anxious 
consideration of extenuating circumstances, he 
lived many distracted days and nights. He could 
neither eat nor sleep. 

The pressure upon him was intense, as it al- 
ways is upon men whose word can save lives. 
Every body pleaded for tliem. His own officers 
besieged his ears for pardon. The officers of the 
condemned besought it. Union men of the city im- 
plored it. And at night, when the world was 
shut out, there was still a voice to repeat the 
auguments of the day. The si.x prisoners were 
poor, simple, ignorant souls. One of them had 
said, when arraigned before the commission, that 
he did not understand anything about this pa- 
roling. 

"ParoHng," said he, "is for officers and gentle- 
men : we are not gentlemen." 

It is probable that this remark saved the lives 
of them all, for it suggested the line of argument 
and the kind of consideration which, probably, 
had most to do with changing the general's re- 
solve. " "We are not gentlemen," — an admission 
which no northern prisoner would be likely to 
make. At the south those words really have a 



meaning ; the poor people there fed a difference 
of rank between themselves and the lords of the 
plantation, and recognize a lower grade of per- 
sonal obligation. A gentlemen must keep his 
word ; we poor people may get away if we can. 

The earnest petition of those staunch Unionists 
Mr. J. A. Rosier and Mr. T. J. Durant had great 
weight with the general also. 

" Tliese men," wrote they, "are justly liable to 
the condign punishment which the military law 
metes out to so grave and heinous an offense. 
But a powerful government never diminishes its 
strength by acts of clemency and mercy. No 
doubt, General, these men were partly driven by 
want, partly deluded, and have long been so; 
superior minds have heretofore given ihem false 
impressions, and they have been acting under 
such views as have at last brought them to the 
threshold of the grave. Unknown to us, eveu 
from report, prior to their trial and condemnation, 
we see in them only men and brethren who have 
erreJ and are in danger. General, the event has 
just shown that these men are unable to resist 
the force of the government, or elude its vigilance 
and the fidelity of its officers. ■ They are subdued 
and powerless. Their case excites our commiser- 
ation, and that of hundreds of others. We ask you 
to have mercy upon them." 

To this letter, whicli was received the day 
before the one named for the execution, General 
Butler replied : 

" Of the justice which calls for the death of 
these men I can have no doubt. The mercy it 
would be to others, in like cases tempted to 
offend, to have the terrible example of the pun- 
ishment to which these misguided men are sen- 
tenced, is the only matter left for discussion. 

" Upon this question you who have suffered 
for the Union, who have stood by it in evil and 
in good report — you who have lived and are 
hereafter to live in this city as your home, when 
all are gathered again under the flag which has 
been so foully outraged, and to whose vvrougs 
these men's lives are forfeit — you who, I have 
heard, exerted your talents to save the lives of 
Union men in the hour of their peril, ought to 
have a determining weight when your opinions 
have been deliberately formed. You ask for 
these men's lives. You shall have them. You 
say that the clemency of the government is best 
for the cause we all have at heart. Be it so. 
You are likely to be better informed upon this 
than I am. I have no wish to do an^-thing but 
that which wiU show the men of Louisiana how 
great a good they were tempted to tlirow away 
when they were led to raise their hands against 
the constitution and laws of the United States. 

" If this example of mercy is lost upon those 
in the .same situation, swift justice can overtake 
others in like manner offending." 

The men were reprieved, and consigned to 
Ship Island " during the pleasure of the presi- 
dent of the United States." This was on the 
foui'th of June. Mumford was to die on the 
seventh. 

The scaffold was erected in front of the Mint, 
near the scene of his crime. To the last minute 
General Butler was earnestly implored to spare 
him. The venerable Dr. Mercer, a man of 
eighty honorable years, once the familiar friend 
and frequent host of Henry Clay, a gentleman 
of boundless generosity and benevolence, the 



94 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



patron of all that redeemed New Orleans, came 
to head-quarters an hour before the execution, 
to ask for Mumford's life. 

" Give me this man's life, General," said he, 
while the tears rolled down his aged cheeks. 
" It is but a scratch of your pen." 

"True," replied general. 'But a scratch of 
my pen could burn New Orleans. I could as 
soon do the one act as the other. I think one 
would be as wrong as the other." 

In truth, the reprieve of the six had rendered 
the saving of Mumford impossible. That act of 
mercy, like all the rest of General Butler's acts 
in New Orleans, was utterly misinterpreted by 
the people, who attributed it to weakness and 
cowardice. It was, and is, the conviction of the 
best informed officers and Union citizens then in 
New Orleans, that upon the question of hanging 
or sparing Mumford depended the final suppres- 
sion or the continued turbulence of the mob of 
the city. Mumford hanged, the mob was sub- 
dued. Mumford spared, the mob remained to 
be quelled by final grape and canister. There 
was absolutely needed for the peaceful govern- 
ment of the city, a certxiinty that General Butler 
dared hang a rebel. 

Mumford met his doom with the composure 
•with which bad men usually die. He said that 
" the offense for which he was condemned was 
committed under excitement, and he did not 
consider he was suffering justly. He conjured 
all who heard him to act justly to all men ; to 
rear their children properly ; and when they 
met death they would meet it firmly. He was 
prepared to die ; and as he had never wronged 
any one, he hoped to receive mercy." 

An immense concourse beheld the execution. 
The turbulent spirits of New Orleans drew the 
proper inferences from the scene. Every one 
concerned in the administration of justice in the 
city felt a certain confidence, before unfelt, in 
their abilit3' to rule the city without violence. 
Every soldier felt safer; and the friends of the 
Union had an assurance that, at length, they 
were really on the stronger side. Order reigned 
in "Warsaw. 

The name of Mumford, if we may believe 
Confederate newspapers, was immediately added 
to the " roll of martyrs to the cause of liberty." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 

" Whatever else may be said of business in 
New Orleans," remarked the humorous Delta, 
"one thing is certain, consuls are lower." 

Consuls were very high indeed during the 
first few weeks of the occupation of the city. 
Their position in Now Orleans had been one of 
first-rate importance during the rebellion ; for it 
was chiefly through the foreign capitalists of the 
city that the Confederacy had been supplied 
with arms and munitions of war, and it had 
been the congenial office of the consuls to afford 
them aid and protection in that lucrative 
business. They forgot that they were only con- 
suls. They forgot the United States. Often 
communicating directly with the cabinet minis- 
ters of their countries, always flattered and 



made much of by the supporters of the rebel- 
lion, expecting with the most perfect confidence 
the triumph of secession, representing powers 
every one of which desired or counted upon its 
success, they assumed the tone of embassidors; 
they courted the power which they assumed 
would finallj'- rule in New Orleaus, and held in 
contempt or aversion the one to which they 
were accredited. 

These gentlemen gave General Butler more 
trouble, caused him piore hard work, than any 
other class in New Orleans. They opposed 
every measure of his which could be supposed 
to bear upon any man of foreign origin. Mr. 
Se.ward was overrun with their protests, com- 
plaints and petitions. If the secretary of the 
treasury approved the commander of the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf as the cheapest of generals, 
the secretary of state found him much the most 
troublesome. The correspondence relating to 
this single subject would fill two or three 
volumes as large as this. 

A collision between the foreign consuls and 
General Butler almost necessarily involved a 
difference between General Butler and Mr. 
Seward. The two men are moral antipodes. 
Mr. Seward has too little. General Butler has 
etiougli, of the spirit of warfare. Mr. Seward, 
by the constitution of his mind and the habits 
of thirty years, is a conciliator, one who shrinks 
from the final ordeal, who is reluctant to face 
the last consequences, skillful to postpone, ex- 
plain away, and " make things pleasant." Gen- 
eral Butler, on the contrary, rejoices in a clear 
issue, goes. straight to the point, uses language 
that bears but one meaning, and "takes the 
responsibility" as naturally as he takes his 
breakfast. Mr. Seward so dreaded the approach 
of the war, that he was more than willing to 
make concessions which would pass the final, 
the inevitable conflict over to the next genera- 
tion. General Butler picked up the glove with 
a feeling akin to exultation, and adopted war as 
the business of the country and his own, desir- 
ing no pause till the controversy Wiis settled 
absolutely and for ever. Mr. Seward regarded 
the southern oligarchy as erring fellow-citizens, 
who could be won back to their allegiance. 
General Butler regarded them as traitors, utterly 
incapable of conversion, who could be retidered 
harmless only by being made powerless. Mr. 
Seward, as the head of the foreign department, 
felt that all his duties were subordinate to the 
one cardinal, central object of his policy, the 
maintenance of peace with foreign nations while 
the rebellion showed front. General Butler, 
always breasting the foremost wave of the rebel- 
lion, could not be very sensitive to the gentle 
murmurs of Mr. Seward's reception-room. The 
men were subject to two opposite, antagonistic 
magnetisms. General Butler was John Heenan 
pegging away at Sayers, thinking of nothing 
but getting in fair blows. Mr. Seward was the 
distressed bottle-holder who wanted H'^'^an to 
win, but thought Sayers too good a fellow to be 
smashed. 

Hence we find that when the foreign ministers 
brought their complaints, to the department of 
state, Mr. Seward generally, and at once, took 
it for granted that General Butler was wrong. 
He could do no other way, without insincerity. 
The men are so essentially antagonistic, that no 



G-ENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIQ-N CONSULS. 



96 



really cbaracteristic act of either could fail to 
excite in the other an instinctive disapproval. 

Similar remarks applj- to Mr. Reverdy John- 
son, of Maryland, the eminent and very able 
lawyer who was sent by Mr. Seward to New 
Orleans to investigate the consular imbroglio. 
As a native of a Southern state, it was natural 
that he should feel a certain degree of sympathy 
with the suflering people of Louisiana, and 
be disposed to take a favorable view of their 
side of a dispute with General Butler. If, in 
1862, he thought secession a mistake and a 
crime, in all other particulars he was in accord 
with bis southern friends. His heart and mind, 
h"s friends and habits, were southern. In New 
Orleans he associated almost exclusively with 
secessionists — who felt, who avowed, who 
boasted that he was their friend. Granting that 
he had the most honorable intentions (I am sure 
he had no other), it was not in human nature 
that he should judge justly between General 
Butler and the rebels of New Orleans. Nor can 
we doubt that he was sent to New Orleans, and 
knew that he was sent, to comply with the de- 
mands of foreign powers, if it could be done 
without concessions too palpably humiliating. 

Here is the point : every one knows the 
diflerence that may exist between a law case as 
presented in the law p.'ipers, and the known 
CictB of the case. A merchant, for example, 
finds it convenient to " make over" his property 

" " friend. The papers show that he has not 
'"iar in the world, while the fact is, that he 

iBsesses a quarter of a million. Every one in 
the court may know the fact ; yet the p§,pers 
carry the day. A bank may find it advanta^ous 
to seem to possess no coin. Any lawyer can 
suggest a mode by which this can be done, and 
a judge in ordinary times might be obliged to 
decide in accordance with the documents. What 
General Butler would have liked was a com- 
missioner who would have sought out the 
hidden fiact,- not one who was content with tlie 
paper case. But Mr. Seward was chiefly con- 
cerned to keep the peace with foreign powers, to 
deprive them not merely of all cause of complaint, 
but of all pretext. Far be it from me to pre- 
sume to say that he was wrong. " One at a 
time" is a good rule, when a nation has a war 
on its hands. His course may have beau jus- 
tified by necessity. 

It is impossible to detail here all the points of 
collision between General Butler and the foreign 
consuls. The more important cases were the 
following : 

CASE OF THE BRITISH GUARD. 

The British Guard consisted of fifty or sixty 
Englishmen, old residents of New Orleans, many 
of them men of large properly and extensive 
business. On returning to their armory, late in 
the evening, after the disbanding of the Foreign 
Legion, they had held a formal meeting, at which 
it was voted to send their arms, accouterments, 
and uniforms to the camp of General Beauregard. 
On learning this, a few days after the occupation 
of the city. General Butler sent for Captain 
Burrows, the commander of the company, who 
confessed the fact. The general then directed 
him to order his company to leave New Orleans 
within twenty -four hours ; and declared his in- 
teutioa to arrest and confine in Fort Jackson 



any who should fail to obey the order. Th» 
violation of the law of neutralitj had been clear 
and indefensible. These men had enjoyed for 
many years the protection of the United States 
government, under which they acquired wealth 
and distinction, and then embraced the first 
opportunity that had offered 1o give material aid 
to its enemies. Captain Burrows could only 
object that part of the company had been absent 
from the meeting and it would be unfair to 
punish the innocent with tlie guilty. General 
Butler assented, and ordered those of the com- 
pany who had not participated in the offense, to 
appear before him with tlieir arms and uniforms, 
the rest to obey the previour! order. 

The acting British consul, Mr. George Coppell,. 
hastened to interpose. He could not deny tha,, 
the act charged against his countrymen was a 
violation of the law ; but he said they had done 
il with " no idea of wrong or harm." He en- 
larged upon the inconveni(!nce it would be to 
those iiighly respectable gentlemen to leave the 
city, where their affairs were extensive and im- 
portant. In fact, it would not be even " possible" 
for some of them to leave ; and if General Butler 
should persist, it would be the duty of the con- 
sul to solemnly protest against the " verbal 
order of questionable legality, the enforcement 
of which would infringe the rights of British 
subjects residing in New Orleans." 

The general replied by recounting the facts 
with the exactness of a lawyer. " These people 
he added, " thought it of consequence that Beau- 
regard should have sixty more uniforms and 
rifles. I think it of the same consequence that 
he should have sixty more of these faithless men, 
who may fill them if they choose. I intend this 
order to be strictly enforced. I am content for 
the present to sufl'er open enemies to rem*iu in 
the city of their nativity ; but law-defying and 
treacherous alien enemies shall not. I welcome 
all neutrals and foreigners who have kept aloof 
from these troubles which have been brought 
upon the city, and will, to the extent of my 
power, protect them and their property. They 
shall have the same hospitable and just treat- 
ment tliey have always received at the hands 
of the United States government. They will 
see, however, for themselves, that it is for the 
interest of all to have the unworthy among 
them rooted out ; because the acts of such 
bring suspicion upon alL All the facts above 
set forth can easily be substantiated, and in- 
deed, are all evasively admitted in your note by 
the very apology made for them. That apology 
says, that these men, when they took this action 
— sent these arms and munitions of war to 
Beauregard — ' did it with no idea of wrong or 
harm.' I do not understand this. Can it be 
that such men, of age to enroll themselves as a 
miUtary body, did not know that it was wrong 
to supply the enemies of the United States with 
arms ? If so, I tliink they should be absent 
from the city long enough to learn so much inter- 
national law ; or do you mean to say, knowing 
their social proclivities, and the lateness of the 
hour when the vote was taken, therefore they 
were not responsible ? There is another difii- 
cuity, however, in those people taking any pro- 
tection under the Biitish flag. The company 
received a charter or commission, or some form 
of rebel authorization from the governor of 



96 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



Louisiana, and one of them, wliom I have under 
arrest, accompanied him to the rebel camp. 
There is still another difficulty. I am iiaformed, 
and believe that a majority of them have made 
declarations of their intentions t© become citizens 
of tlie United States, and of the supposed Con- 
federate States, and have taken the proper and 
improper oaths of allegiance to effect that pur- 
pose." 

The order was executed. Every member of 
the company (for none of them could produce his 
arms or uniform) fled from the •city, except the 
captain and one other. These two found them- 
selves prisoners in Port Jackson. Mr. Coppell 
related the case to Lord Lyons, who laid it before 
Mr. Seward. The secretary of state admitted the 
illegality of the act committed by the British 
Guard; but, in effect, recommended Captain 
Burrows and his friend to the mercy of the com- 
manding general, and advised their release. Ac- 
cordingly, afler several weeks' detention, they 
were set at liberty. 

General Butler, justly offended at the tone and 
substance of Mr Coppelfs remonstrance, intimated 
to that gentleman that, though he signed himself 
"Her Britannic Majesty's Acting Consul," he had 
exhibited no proof of his right to that honorable 
designation. "The respect," said General Butler, 
■" which I feel for that government leads me to 
err, if at all, upon the side of recognition of your 
•claims, and those of its officers ; but I take leave 
to call your attention to the fact that you sub- 
scribed yourself 'Her Britannic Majesty's Acting 
Consul,' and that I have received no official infor- 
mation of any right you may have so to act, ex- 
cept your acts alone, and pardon me if I err in 
saying, that your acts in that capacity, which 
liave come to my knowledge, have not been of 
such character as to induce the belief on my part, 
that you rightfully represent that noble govern- 
ment." 

It happened that Mr. Coppell could not produce 
the necessary documents. As he continued to in- 
terfere with General Butler's measures, and that 
too, in the style of a resident unfriendly minister, 
the general had the pleasure of refusing to recog- 
nize him, and he remained without official char- 
acter until he could pr'ooure from Washington the 
necessary proofs of his appointment. 

Case of Charles Heidsieck. 

This individual, it appears, was the head of the 
great French house of dealers in Heidsieck cham- 
pagne. He was a native and citizen of France, 
but had come to the southern states to look after 
delinquent creditors, and had resided, for some 
time, ill Mobile. He entered his name upon the 
books of ihe Djok Keys and the Natchez, steam- 
boats permitted by General Butler to convey 
provisions to New Orleans, as bar-tender; made 
live trips in that disguise, and brought to and 
liom Aiobile a very large quantity of letters, 
several of which, containing treasonable infor- 
mation, were sent v,,^ Washington by General 
Jiuilor. As lliedsieck was departing for Fort 
Jackson, he called on his consul for help. " I 
have the honor," he wrote, " to ask you to see 
whiit you have to do for me in this matter, hav- 
ing come and left this city under a flag of truce." 
What the consul concluded he had to do for him 
we shall see in a momeat. After several 



months' imprisonment at Fort Jacksoa and "Port 
Pickens, he was released by orders from Wabh- 
ington. He then forwarded to the Government 
a memorial, in the French manner, asking repa- 
ration for his detention. This impudent claim 
from a man who only escaped the ignominious 
death of a spy by the clemency of the govern- 
ment, elicited from General Butler an amusing 
narrative of the case, which the evidence before 
me at this moment proves to be true in every 
particular. 

" The facts with regard to Heidsieck may be 
^ated in a word. I learned that intelligence was 
being conveyed to New Orleans and Mobile for 
the rebels. I believed the ;ity agent to be trust- 
worthy. There was no cha anel except the em- 
ployes of the boat, no passengers being allowed. 
I caused an inquiry to be made, and found 
Heidsieck on board in disguise, and that he spent 
all his time, between trips, in this city. Before 
I had the facts reported to me, he had gone to 
Mobile with the last trip of the steamer. It may 
be assumed I was glad to see him, when he re- 
turned, iu his true character of ' bearer of dis- 
patches. ' I arrested him as a spy — I confined 
him as a spy — I should have tried him as a spy, 
and hanged him upon conviction as a spy, if I 
had not been interfered with by the government 
at Washington. 

" He had, when arrested, a canvas wrapper, of 
the size of a peck measure, firmly bound up with 
cords, covering letters from the French, Svvis.s, 
Spanish, Prussian, and Belgian consuls, also a 
great number ofletters to private persons, mostly 
rebels, or worse, intermeddling foreigners, con- 
taining contraband intelligence. A portion of 
these letters were forwarded to the honorable 
secretary of state, in December last, by me. To 
show the utter falsity of Heidsieck's narrative, 
let me advert to his statement, that he stole 
away a paper which, he says, ' I recognized as 
the envelope of my dispatches; the envelope, by 
the folds, to which the remnant of the seals still 
adhered, which could alone give to M. De Mejan 
the correct idea of the bulk of the dispatches.' 
It will be recollected that it has already been 
stated by me that the letters were inclosed in a 
canvas wrapper, tied up with cord, which Heid- 
sieck, in his memorial, represents me as being 
engaged for some minutes in ' cutting and break- 
ing. ' How then could any paper siiovv the size 
of the package ? I seat Heidsieck to Fort Jack- 
son, which was, at that time, the only military 
prison in my department, and where confine- 
ments were usually made. Immediately after 
his arrest, the French consul notified me that he 
had referred the matter to his minister at Wash- 
ington, and I accordingly sent my dispatch to 
the secrotaiy of state, and rested in taking meas- 
ures for the trial until I received instructions 
from tlie government. 

" A number of French residents of New Or- 
leans, however, petitioned me as an act of grace 
to release Heidsieck, and allow him to go to 
JSurope, to remain during the war. I finally con- 
sented, and gave orders for his release upon thvit 
condition, as an act of clemency. For tliis order 
his friends were very grateful, and so expressed 
themselves both by letter and in person. This 
parole was declined by Heidsieck, although 1 
supposed the appiica '.ion had been made by hi? 
consent and his pro 3urement. Perhaps, how 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



97 



«ver, this refusal may be explained by the fact 
stated iu his memorial, that the French consul, 
two days afterward, started for Washingtoa ' on 
my account.' 

" It will be seen, in all points, Heidsieck 
•claims that all suspicion should be diverted Irom 
himself as to his neutrality, because he was act- 
ing in concert wilh Count Mejan, the French con- 
sul at New Orleans; but it will not escape recol- 
lection that M. Mejan's own propriety of conduct 
and neutrality has, by subsequent revelations, 
been shown to be worse than doubtful — the re- 
pository of almost a half million of specie loaned 
by the Bank of New Orleans to the Confederate 
government, for the purpose of purchasing army 
clothing, and receiving a commiasion for his 
agency. Count Mejan has been, very properly, 
recalled by his government, and can hardly, by 
his character, cover the suspected acts of Heid- 
sieck traveling between rebel cities in the guise 
of a bar-tender. 

" He now desires reparation for his confine- 
ment. Let Heidsieck be ordered back into con- 
finement ; let a court-martial of impartial officers 
at New Orleans be ordered to try him as a spy, 
with a competent judge advocate ; and if he is 
acquitted, I pledge myself to the extent of my 
private means, to make good to him all he has 
suffered, provided his government will agree, 
that if found guilty, he shall be hanged, as he 
ought to be without any intervention on its part. 

" If Heidsieck had not been taken out of my 
hands by the action of ray government, I should 
have ordered him before a court for trial, and I 
believe he would have suffered for his crimes 
against the country that had given him the 
protection of its laws." 

So much for Charles Heidsieck, bar-tender and 
dealer in champagne. We come now to an 
affair tJiat made more noise iu the world. 

SEIZURE OP $800,000 IN SILVER. 

To justify the seizure of this mass of coin, it is 
mot necessary to prove that it constituted part of 
the cash capital of the Confederate government, 
or that it was secreted for the purpose of de- 
frauding the creditors of the Citizens' Bank, from 
the vaults of which it was so suddenly removed 
before the occupation of the city. It is only 
necessary to show that there existed strong 
grounds of suspicion with regard to it. The 
silver was not confiscated, it was merely seized 
and held for adjudication. The rebel govern- 
ment, at the beginning of the war, had not been 
content merely to seize and hold the coin in the 
mint and sub-treasury of the United States; but 
had appropriated the same to its own purposes. 
The subjects of that government had not merely 
postponed the payment of the two or three 
liuudred millions which they owed northern mer- 
chauis and manufacturers ; but had first repu- 
diated the debts, and then proceeded to place it 
for ever beyond their power to pay them ; to say 
nothing of the universal confiscation of property 
in the South which belonged to northern men. 
This silver, on the contrary, was seized 'and 
detained, merely that the extremely suspicious 
circumstances of its concealment might be inves- 
tigated. 

Let me remark, first, that the mysterious 



morning, from the Citizens' Bank to the Dutch 
consulate, was condenmed, at the time of the 
transfer, by the True Delta, a secession paper ; 
and condemned on grounds siiown, in 1863, 
io be just. •' If we are correctly informed," said 
the True Bella of April 26th, '' tlie coin which 
has taken wings from the Citizens' Bank is trans- 
ferred to Dutch hands to discharge indebtedness 
in Holland not yet for some time due, and for 
which the bank advancing the specie is no more 
responsible than is any other living institution 
in this place. Were it otherwise, however, were 
the debt its own we can not see the propriety 
at a time like this, to deplete its vaults to antici- 
pate a debt, or to pay a foreign creditor prefer- 
entially." It thus appears that the transaction, 
though imperfectly understood, made upon the 
honest mind of John Maginnis, editor of the 
True JJtUa, precisely the same impression that 
it made upon General Butler. 

A few days after the landing of the troops, a 
negro informed Lieutenant Kinsman that an 
immense number of kegs of silver had been 
taken to the store of a Frenchman named Con- 
turie, a liquor dealer, and .secreted in a large 
vault; in testimony whereof the negro produced 
a Bible in which he had made some hieroglyphic 
entry of the fact, with a view Io its being com- 
municated to the Union general when he should 
arrive. Farther inquiry substantiating tlie ne- 
gro's story. General Butler sent Captain Shipley 
of the Thirtieth Massachusetts, with a file of six 
or eight soldiers, to examine the office of M. 
Uouturie, who proved to be the consul of the 
Netherlands. At two in the afternoon of May 
lOtli, (Japtain Shipley presented himself at the 
consulute. It appeared to be an insurance office, 
though the consular flag of the Netherlands was 
flying over the door. M. Conturie was found, and 
Captain Shipley, with marked courtesy, informed 
him of the object of his visit, adding, that he was 
ordered to prevent the departure of persons or 
property from the building. M. Conturie, with 
needless vehemence, and iu a style that savored 
of the dramatic, said : 

'' I am the consul of the Netherlands. Thia 
is the office of my consulate. I protest against 
any such violation of it." 

He solemnly declared, and many times de- 
clared, that the part of the building occupied by 
him contained nothing but the property belong- 
ing or appertaining to the consulate, or to him- 
self as an individual. He positively refused to 
allow the vault or office to be searched. After 
some further conversation Tith Captain Shipley, 
he wrote a note to the Count Mejan, consul- 
general of France, which he requested might be 
sent to that personage, as he wisiied to consult 
with him. Very naturally ; for the Count Me- 
jan was more deeply involved iu the secretion 
of coin than M. Conturie. Captain Shipley 
promised to send the note to the French consul, 
provided it was approved at head-quarters. To 
head-quarters he accordingly repaired, leaving 
Conturie a prisoner in his consulate. 

The general decided that M. ConLurie's note 
should not be forwarded to the French consul, 
whom the affair did in no way concern. Captain 
Shipley reappeared at the Dutch consulate com- 
municated liis intention to search the premises, 
and demanded of M. Conturie the key of the 



transfer of the silver, in the quiet of a Sunday I vault. The consul refused to deliver it. 



98 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



" Then I sball be obliged to force the door," 
said the captain. 

" With regard to tliat, you will do as you 
please," said Couturie, who again protested 
against the violation of his office and flag. 

As Captain Shipley had not the means of 
forcing the vault, he was again compelled to 
return to head-quarters. As he turned to go, 
the consul said : 

" Sir, am I to understand that my consular 
office is taken possession of, and myself am 
arrested by you; and that, too, by order of 
Major-General Butler ?" 

"Yes, sir," replied Captain Shipley. 

General Butler, upon receiving the captain's 
report, sent him back to the consulate, accom- 
panied bj' Lieutenant Kinsman, of his stafif, an 
officer peculiarly well fitted for extracting a key 
from a contumacious consul — a gentleman per- 
fectly capable of the suaviter in mode, but equally 
versed in thbfortitcr in re. To the consul, Lieu- 
tenant Kinsman politely said : 

" Sir, I wish to look into your vault ?" 

Tlie consul replied : •' It contains only my 
private effects, and tlie property of the con- 
sulate." 

Lieutenant Kinsman: ''Sir, I wish to look 
into your vault. Give me the key. ' 

" Mr. Conturie : " I will not." 

Lieutenant Kinsman to officers ; " Search the 
office. Break open, if need be, the doors of the 
vault." 

Mr. Conturie, rising; "I, Amedie Conturie, 
Consul of the Netherlands, protest against any 
occupation or search of my office ; and this I do 
in the name of my government. The name of 
my consulate is over the door, and my flag floats 
over my head. If I cede, it is to force alone." 

The search began. Conturie then said, it 
would be of no use to search the office, for the 
key of the vault was upon his own person. 

Lieutenant Kinsman to officers: "Search this 
man." 

Captain Shipley and Lieutenant Whitcomb, 
approached " this man" to obej- the order. 

Lieutenant Kinsman: "Search the fellow 
thoroughly. Strip him. Take off his coat, his 
stockings. Search even the soles of his shoes." 

M. Conturie : " You call me fellow 1 That 
word is never applied to a gentleman, far less to 
a foreign consul, acting in his consular capacity, 
as I am now. I ask you to remember that you 
used that word." 

Lieutenant Kinsman: "Certainly; fellow is 
the name I applied to you. I don't care, if you 
were the consul of Jerusalem ; I am going to 
look into your vault." 

One of the officers took a key from the coat- 
pocket of the consul, which proved not to be the 
one required. Conturie then made a slight 
movement, which plainly said, that the pocket to 
look into, was a certain one in bis pantaloons. 
The silent hint was taken. The key was found. 
The vault was opened ; and, lo ! a cord and a 
half of kegs of silver coin, marked " Hope & Co." 
The kegs were one hundred and sixty in number, 
each containing five thousand Mexican dollars. 
Many other articles were found in the vault — tin 
boxes, containing bonds of the cities of New Or- 
leans and Mobile, the consul's exquatur and 
other papers belonging to him. Certain dies, 
bank-plates, and engraving tools o' the Citizens 



I Bank, were also discovered. A subsequent 
j search brought to light pktes of the Confederate 
I treasury notes, and some of the paper upon which 
I the notes were usually printed. Such were the 
articles which the veracious Conturie declared 
! were the property of his consulate and of himself. 
1 The consul was released early in the evening. 
The next day, the .silver, three wagon loads, and 
all the other articles found in the vault, were re- 
moved to the Mint, and the office was vacated 
by the troops. The Confederate plates were for- 
warded to "Washington, where they now are; 
the rest of the property was held, subject to the 
disposal of the government. 

M. Conturie immediately drew up a narrative 
of what had occurred, suppressing his declarations, 
so emphatic, so oft repeated, that the vault con- 
tained nothing but his own and consular proper- 
ty, and complaining bitterly of Lieutenant Kins- 
man's strong language and stronger measures. 
This he sent to General Butler, who thus replied : 
" Your communication of the 10th instant is 
received. The nature of the property found con- 
cealed beneath your consular flag — the specie, 
dies, and plates of the Citizens" Bank of New Or- 
leans — under a claim that it was private property, 
which claim is now admitted to be groundless, 
shows you have merited, so far as I can judge, 
the treatment you have received, even if a little 
rough. Having prostituted your flag to a base 
purpose, you could not hope to have it respected 
so debased." 

May 12th — Every consul in New Orleans, ex- 
cept the Mexican, to the number of nineteen, 
joined in protesting against "the indignity," "the 
severe ill-usage," and the " imprisonment for 
several hours," to which the sacred person of M.^ 
Conturie had been subjected. 
General Butler replied : 
'• Messes. : I have the protest which you 
have thought it proper to make in regard to the 
action of my officers toward the consul of the 
Netherlands, which action I approve and sustain. 
I am grieved that, without investigation of the 
facts, you, Messrs., should have thought it your 
duty to take action in the matter. The fact will 
appear to be, and easily to be demonstrated at 
the proper time, that the flag of the Netherlands- 
was made lo cover and conceal property of an in- 
corporated company of Louisiana, secreted under 
it from the operation of the laws of the United 
States. That the supposed fact that the consul 
had under the flag only the property of Hope & 
Co., citizens of the Netherlands, is untrue. He 
had other property which could not by law be 
his property, or the property of Hope & Co. ; ot 
this I have abundant proof in my own hands. 
No person can excel me in the respect which I 
shall pay to the flags of all nations, and to the 
consulate authority, even while I do not recog- 
nize many claims made under them ; but I wish 
it most distinctly understood that, in order to be 
respected, tlie consul, his office, and the use of 
his flag, must each and all be respectable." 

M. Couturie's next step was, of course, to sub- 
mit the case to Mr. Van Limburg, the minister 
of the Netherlands at Washington, wlio, in turn, 
laid it before Mr. Seward, with all the exagger- 
ations of Conturie's narrative. Mr. Van Lim- 
burg is a very respectable and learned gentle- 
men. It is pleasing to notice with what joyful 
alacrity he embraced the opportunity of writing. 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



99 



loug and erudite dispatches, such as has rarely 
fallen to the lot of a minister of the Netherlands 
residing at Washington. The ponderous dis- 
patches with which this worthy gentlemen kept 
Mr. Seward busyduring the summer of 18G2, are 
they not attached to the president's message ? 
from page 625 to page 652. They are there. 
witli all their Latin quotations considerately trans- 
lated. '• Jusricia, regnorum fundamentum (jus- 
tice is the foundation of kingdoms)." To de- 
scribe these dispatches it is only necessary to say 
that they are precisely such as Dominie Samson 
would have written, had he been minister of the 
Netherlands in the year 1862, at the city of 
Washington. 

Mr. Seward, in reply to Mr. Van Limburg's 
first dispatch, said, that he thought the consul 
had done wrong, but not so wrong as to justify 
the roughness of Lieutenant Kinsman. " It ap- 
pears," said the secretary of state, '• beyond dis- 
pute, that the person of the consul was unneces- 
sarily and rudely searched ; that certain papers 
which inconlestably were archives of the consu- 
late, weva seized and removed, and that they are 
still withheld from him ; and tllat he was not 
only denied the privilege of conferring with a 
friendly colleague, but was addressed in very dis- 
courteous and disrespectful language. In these 
proceedings the military agents assumed ftinctions 



ernment with which the United States have lived 
in amity for so many years." 

Mr. Van Limburg declined joining in the in- 
vestigation. The United States, he said, must 
investigate the actions of its servants. For Mm 
to take part in it, would be to acknowledge that 
General Butlers conduct was possibly right. 
Besides, no seals had been placed upon the kegs 
and boxes, and these contained the very evidence 
of the consul's innocence. " It is for Major-Gen- 
eral Butler to prove what he alleges. Ei iucum- 
bii j)rohaUo qui dicit, non qui negat (the burden 
of the proof lies upon him who asserts, not upon 
him who denies), says the Pandects. It is not 
for me, it is not for our consul, to .prove that he 
is innocent. Prima facie the money delivered 
by the ' Citizens' Bank' to the agent of the house 
of Hope & Co., to be transmitted to that house, 
or to be deposited with the consul of the Nether- 
lands, is a legitimate money legitimately trans- 
ferred. I could not, without having received the 
orders of the government of the king, participate 
in any manner in an investigation which would 
tend to investigate that which I could not put in 
doubt — the good faith of the agent of the house 
of Hope & Co., the moral impossibility that that 
honorable house should lend itself to any culpa- 
ble underplot, the good faith of the consul of the 
Netherlands. QuiUbet proesumiter Justus donee 



which belonged exclusively to the department of I probitur contrarium (every one is to be presumed 
state, acting under the direction of the president, honest until the contrary is proven), saith the 
Their conduct was a violation of the law of na- ancient universal rule of justice." If any charge 
tions, and of the comity due from this country to is made against the consul, we will investigate 
a friendly foreign state. The government disap- that. And if General Butler is guilty of the acta 
proves of these proceedings, and also the sanction charged bj' Conturie, we expect his — in fact — 
which was given to them by Major-General But- ! removal. Meantime, what is the status of M. 



ler, and expresses its regret that the misconduct 
thus censured has occurred." 

This is a curious passage. It appears to say, 
that only the secretary of state, acting under the 
authority of the president, has the right to put 
his hand into a consul's pocket, and take out a 
key. Lieutenant Kinsman, one day in Washing- 
ton, asked Mr. Seward what was the next thing 
to do after Conturie refused to give up the key ? 
The secretary did not answer the question. It 
certainly was a puzzler. 

Mr. Seward farther informed Mr. Van Limburg 
that the president had appointed a mihtary gov- 
ernor of Louisiana, Greueral Shepley, "who has 
been instructed to pay duo respect to all consular 
rights and privileges, and a commissioner will at 
once proceed to New Orleans to investigate the 
transaction which has been detailed, and take 
evidence concerning the title of the specie, and 
bonds, and other property in question, with a 
view to a disposition of the same, according to 
international law and justice. You are invited 
to designate any proper person to join such com- 
missioner, and attend his investigations. This 
government holds itself responsible for the mone}'- 
and the bonds in question, to deliver them up to 
the consul, or to Hope «fe Co., if they shall appear 
to belong to them. The consular commission 
aud exequatur, together with all the private pa- 
pers, will be immediately returned to M. Con- 
turie, and he will be allowed to resume, and, for 
the present, exercise his official functions. Should 
the facts, when ascertained, justify a representa- 
tion to you of misconduct on his part, it will in 
due time be made, with the confidence that the 



Conturie ? Is he consul, or is he not ? 

Mr. Seward had informed the minister, that M 
Conturie would be " allowed" to resume bis 
functions at once, before the aflfair had been in- 
vestigated. The minister demanded that he 
should be ^'■invited"' to do so. Mr. Seward re- 
plied : " I have no objection to your writing to 
the consul that it is the president's expectation 
that he will resume and continue in the discharge 
of his official functions untU there shall be far- 
ther occasion for him to relinquish them." The 
minister rejoined : " I regret, sir, not to be able 
to accept that formula without submitting it to 
the judgment of the government of the king." 
The minister more than carried his point; for 
we find Mr. Seward writing to him soon after, 
that, '^ sinmltaneoii^ly ivith the appointment of Mr. 
Johnson as commissioner, Major-General Butler 
was relieved of his functions as military gover- 
nor of New Orleans, and Brigadier-General Shep- 
ley was appointed military governor of that 
city ; the military authorities were at the same 
time directed to invite M. Conturie to resume his 
consular functions." 

True, the appointment of a military governor 
was a mere diplomatic fiction, which did not in 
the slightest degree aftect General Butler's posi- 
tion or power. In the view of the world, how- 
ever, he was both censured and degraded ; and 
that too, upon the extravagant, unsupported tes- 
timony of a foreign consul, whose conduct the 
secretary of state himself had censured. The 
public was not informed, as General Butler was 
informed by a member of the cabinet, that Gen- 
eral Shepley was selected for tlie militaiy gover- 



subject will receive just consideration by a gov- norship, because he was supposed to be the most 



100 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



acceptable ofScer to General Butler, who had al- 
ready made him the military governor of the city. 

To those who believe that the first duty of a 
government is to stand by its faithful servants, 
this mode of " backing" General Butler in his 
difficult position will not commend itself. Whe- 
ther General Butler's course had been right or 
wrong, was a question upon which there could 
have been two opinions ; and Mr. Reverdy John- 
Son was sent to New Orleans to ascertain which 
of those opinions was correct. There could be 
but one opinion respecting the conduct of the 
consul of the Netherlands, who had lent the pro- 
tection of his flag to property designed to sup- 
port the credit of the armed foes of the power to 
which he was accredited. I cannot conceive 
what there was in the position of the Dutch 
minister, or the power he represented, to justify 
this unquestioning haste to concede everything 
which they thought proper to demand. 

The commissioner selected to go to New Or- 
leans, and investigate the consular imbroglio, 
arrived early in June, and was ready to begin 
his inquiries on the tenth. General Butler re- 
ceived Mr. Johnson with every courtesy, invited 
him to reside at head-quarters, and did all that 
in him lay to facilitate his investigations. Mr. 
Johnson was equally polite, though he dechned the 
general's invitation with regard to his residence. 
He spent six weeks in investigating the several 
cases of collision between General Butler and 
the consuls. 

It appeared that on the 24th of February, 
1862, the Citizens' Bank of New Orleans had 
conceived the idea of suddenly getting rid of a 
great part of its coin. With regard to the eight 
hundred thousand dollars deposited in the vault 
of M. Conturie, the following resolutions were 
shown to Mr. Johnson on the books of the bank: 

" Whereas, the present rate of exchange on 
Europe would entail a ruinous loss in this bank 
for such sums as are due semi-annually in Am- 
sterdam for the interest on the state bonds. 

'■^Beit therefore resoleved, That the President 
be and is hereby authorized to make a special 
deposit of eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,- 
000) in Mexican dollars in the hands of Messrs. 
Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, Holland, agents of 
the bond-holdei-s in Europe, through their au- 
thorized agent, Edmund J. Forstall, Esq., for the 
purpose of providing for the interest on said 
bonds. 

" Be it further resolved, That such portions of 
tne above sum as may be required from time to 
time to pay the interest accruing on the state 
bonds shall be so applied by Messrs. Hope & 
Co., provided, however, that the bank shall have 
the option of redeeming an equivalent amount 
Id coin by approved sterling exchange to the 
satisfaction of the agents of Messrs. Hope & Co. ; 
and provided farther, that in the event of the 
blockade of this port not being raised in time to 
allow of the shipment of the said coin, then the 
said Edmund J. Forstall will arrange with 
Messrs. Hope & Co. for the necessary advances 
to protect the credit of the state and of the bank 
until such time as the coin can go forward to 
liquidate said debt ; but no commission shall be 
allowed for such shipment of coin or any other 
expenses, except those actually incurred; and 
on the resumption of specie payment by this 



bank this trust to cease and the balance of coin 
to be returned to the bank." 

The papers farther showed, that on the 12th 
of April, the agent of Messrs. Hope & Co., " with 
a view to their better security in such times of 
excitement, deemed it his duty to withdraw the 
said sum of eight hundred thousand dollars, al- 
ready marked and prepared for shipment, say, 
one hundred and sixty kegs, Hope & Co.j con- 
taining five thousand dollars each, and to place 
the same under the protection of the consul of 
the Netherlands, Arnadie Conturie, Esq., for 
which he held his receipt." 

It also appeared, that two days after the re- 
moval of this large sum, the bank sold other coin 
amounting to seven hundred and sixteen thou- 
sand one hundred and ninety-six dollars, to the 
French bankers, Messrs. Dupasseur & Co., which 
they paid for in drafts upon bankers in Paris and 
Havre. This coin was deposited in the French 
consulate, where it was seized by General But- 
ler, and where, for the present, we will leave it. 

Now, what did these strange transactions 
mean ? The paper case was plain enough, and 
Mr. Johnson thought it his duty to decide ac- 
cording to the papers, and give up all the coin, 
and all the articles found with it, except the 
plates of the Confederate treasury notea But 
the decision, though it satisfied the secretary 
of state, does not even appease the curiosity 
of a disinterested reader. Surely there was 
ground for suspicion here. The attempted trans- 
fer of so large an amount of coin to Europe, from 
the chief city of the rebel government, at a time 
when all legitimate commerce had ceased, was 
certainly a matter demanding the attention of 
the commanding general. 

Mr. Forstall, the New Orleans agent of Hope 
& Co., in a letter to that eminent house, written 
three days atter the seizure of the coin, gives a 
history of the affair, from which it appears, that 
the solicitude professed by the bank for the in- 
terests of Hope & Co., was not shared by the agent 
of Hope & Co., who strongly advised another dis- 
position of the silver, and accepted it with reluc- 
tance and doubt. It also appears that the office 
claimed by Conturie as tlie consulate of the 
Netherlands, was nothing but a vault, hired by 
him for the sole purpose of hiding the cpin. Mr. 
Forstall's letter farther shows, that the explana- 
tion of the transfer of the coin, which Mr. John- 
son read upon the books of the bank, was a 
fiction. 

I believe this ig all the light I am able to throw 
upon the transaction. One more fact, however, 
should be stated. It was not true, as the True 
Delta intimated, that the Citizens' Bank had no 
particular interest in sustaining the credit of the 
state bonds. Those bonds bore the indorsement 
of the bank, and constituted the basis of its capi- 
tal. The explanation given by the editor of the 
True Delta, of the transfer of the coin, may how- 
ever, be the correct one. The Cilzens' Bank, 
probably, deemed it more important to have a 
powerful friend in Europe, than to secure its 
creditors at home. If this is the true view, then 
justice and patriotism appear to have required 
that the silver should have been replaced in the 
vault of the bank, not restored to the agent of 
Hope & Co. The money having been consigned 
to Europe, the bank has smee gone into liqui- 
dation. 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



101 



In the same spirit, Mr. Johnson decided upon 
the coin deposited witii the French consul by 
the same bank. Perhaps some light may be 
thrown upon that mysterious transaction, by the 
relation of a later affair in which the consul of 
France was engaged. 

DETECTION AND REMOVAL OF THE FRENCH 
CONSUL. 

In September, 1862, Mr. Sandford, our minister 
at Brussels, wrote home that the Confederate 
agents in Europe were seriously embarrassed by 
the non-arrival of a large amount of coin from 
New Orleans. Notes had been renewed; pur- 
veyors of cloth could not be paid; and Confed- 
erate affairs generally were at a dead lock. 
"£ut," he added, "assurances are now given 
that the money is in the hands of the French con- 
sul, and would be shortly received." 

A copy of this interesting letter was forwarded 
to General Butler, with directions to investigate. 
Greneral Butler has a knack at investigating, and 
he performed this pleasing duty with an energy, 
skill, promptitude, and success rarely equaled. 
His report upon the subject was so irresistibly 
conclusive, that the French government felt com- 
pelled to recall a too assiduous, an imprudently 
feithful servant. I can not do the reader a bet- 
ter service than by transcribing this report. The 
supporting documents must necessarily be omit- 
ted, but to show their nature, I retain General 
Butler's references to them. 

" Hkad-quakters, Department of the Gulf, 
" Nbw Orleans, Kov. 13, 1862. 
" To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of "War : 

"Sib: — •! received the communication of the 
war department inclosing a copy of a letter from 
the state department, directing my attention to 
the statement made by Mr. Sandford, our minis- 
ter resident at Brussels, a copy of which I inclose 
for the better understanding of the present com- 
munication. In obedience to its directions I set 
about making inquiries through my secret police, 
and finding it a matter of very grave import as 
affecting the relations of the French consul here, 
I undertook a personal examination of the sub- 
ject. The facts as substantiated by the docu- 
mentary and other testimony, hereto appended, 
are substantially these : 

" The firm of Ed. Gautherin & Co., composed 
of Ed. Gautherin and Alfred and Jules Lemore, 
doing business in New Orleans, was also con- 
cerned in a house at Havre, S. A. Lemore & Co. 
Jules and Alfred Lemore, the partners in New 
Orleans, were also partners in that house. 
Gautherin & Co. were at first employed in buying 
tobacco for the French government, afterward 
they were concerned in shipping cotton in joint 
account. They represent themselves to be agents 
of Baron Villers, the contractor for French army 
clothing. 

" On the 29th day of July, 1861, as will ap- 
pear from the copy of a contract with the Con- 
federate government, herewith inclosed, and 
marked X, the original of which is in my posses- 
sion, Gautherin & Co. agreed to furnish the Confed- 
erates with a large amount of cloths for uniforms, 
which are the cloths spoken of in the communi- 
cation of Mr. Sandford. About the first of April, 
of this year a cargo of the goods was shipped to 
Havana, aci from thence to Matamoras, under 



charge of the senior partner of the house of Ed- 
ward Gautherin & Co., now in Europe. 

" That cloth was smuggled across to Browns- 
ville, and delivered to Captain Shankey, quarter- 
master and agent of the Confederate government. 
The original invoice and receipt are hereto an- 
nexed, marked E and F. Between the 14th and 
24th of April, the day the fleet passed the forts, 
Mr. J. B. D. De Bow, produce loan-agent of the 
Confederate States, made application to the 
' Bank of New Orleans' for a loan of four hun- 
dred and five thousand dollars in coin without 
interest, as will appear by the communication 
hereto annexed, marked C. This proposition 
was acceded to by the bank, upon a pledge, 
made by Payne, Huntington & Co., the junior 
partner of which firm was president of the bank, 
of cotton to be delivered on the plantations in 
Louisiana and Mississippi. The contract is here- 
to annexed, and marked D. 
. " This transaction was noi entered into in good 
faith, as is confessed by the testimony of the 
acting president, Mr. Davis, taken from his own 
lips, in short hand, a copy of , which is hereto 
annexed, marked 0. 

" But the transaction was a contrivance by 
which the specie might be got out of the bank. 
Specie to this amount was placed in the hands 
of the French consul with his full knowledge of 
the intent of the transaction, and a receipt was 
given by him to hold it in trust for the Bank of 
New Orleans. At the same time, a pretended 
sale of the remainder of the specie in bank, 
amounting to four hundred thousand dollars for 
sterling, was made by the bank, and that sum 
was also placed in the hands of the French con- 
sul.* These two sums, amounting to eight hun- 
dred thousand dollars, made substantially the 
whole specie capital of the bank. This is shown 
by the confession of the only director of the bank 
who has not run away into the Confederacy, Mr. 
Harroll, a copy of whose statement is hereto 
annexed, marked R. 

" Matters stood in this condition at the time 
the city of New Orleans was taken possession 
of by us. Upon my assurance to the bank, that 
if they would return their specie, they should be 
protected, the pretended sale for sterling ex- 
change was annulled, and the French consul 
sent back the money, and the bank received 
into its vaults four hundred thousand dollars. 

" In regard to the four hundred and five 
thousand dollars, the French consul became 
uneasy, and moved upon the bank to get at his 
receipt given to the Bank of New Orleans, and 
gave a new receipt, running directly to Gau- 
therin & Co. 

" At this point of time, I ordered all the specie 
in the hands of the French consul to be seques- 
tered and held until affairs could be investigated. 

" Reverdy Johhnson, on commission of the 
state department, came down here, and without 
investigation, and without knowing anything of 
the transactions, and without even inquiring of 
me about .them, made such representations to 
the department of state, that I was ordered to 
release the French consul from his promise not 
to deliver up any specie held in his hands with- 
out informing me, which order I obeyed. 

* I need hardly call the reader's attention to the 
similarity of this " conti'ivance" for getting rid of 
specie to that employed by the Citizens' Bank. 



102 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREiaN CONSULS. 



" In the mean time, Gaiitherin & Co. had suc- 
ceeded in delivering their goods to the Con- 
federate States agents, and called upon the bank 
to get their money, which iiad been deposited in 
the hands of the French consul. This delivery 
had not been completed at Brownsville until 22d 
June ; and some time in tlie last of July, the 
bank, through its officers, gave up its receipts, 
which were destroyed, and took a receipt which 
was dated back to the 16th of April, directly 
from Gautherin & Co., so that the French consul's 
name would not appear in the transaction. 

" These facts are established by the testimony 
of Mr. Belly, the cashier of the bank, which is 
written out and signed, and sworn to by him, a 
copy of which is annexed, marked P. The 
money was sent on board the Spanish man-of- 
war Blasco de Garay, which left this port in 
September last, and has now returned, and has 
been carried to Havana, and thence shipped to 
New York. All this has been done with tha 
knowledge and consent of the consul of France. 

" You will see by the letter of Mr. Sandford 
the difficulties which the Confederates had of 
getting more goods, on account of the non-pay- 
ment of the first bill. Another cargo is now in 
Havana, not to be delivered, of course, until the 
first is paid for. By this wrongful, illegal, and 
inimical interference of the French consul, aided 
by the Spanish ship-of-war, the money has gone 
forward, so that the holders of the goods will be 
ready to ship tlie remainder for the benefit of the 
Confederate army. A more flagrant violation of 
international law and national courtesy on the 
part of a consular agent, can not be imagined. 

" Befoie I proceeded upon the investigation, 
not knowing the extent to which the French 
consul was implicated, I called upon him, and 
after showing him a letter from the commanding 
general of the army, in wliich I was directed to 
cultivate the most friendly relations witli him, I 
read him a letter from our minister at Brussels, 
and told him I siiould desire his friendly aid in 
making the investigation, and then asked him if 
he knew anything of the transaction spoken of 
in the letter of Mr. Sandford, or if any money 
had been deposited with him for any such pur- 
pose. He in the most emphatic mminer asuured 
me that he knew nothing of any such transaction. 
He only knew that there was a French house of 
the name of Gautherin & Co. in New Orleans, 
and declared that no money had ever been de- 
posited with him for any such purpose. I then 
informed him that it would become my duty to 
arrest and question Alfred and Jules Leraore, 
the resident partners of the French house. I did 
so, and they denied all such transaction, or re- 
fused to answer, lest they should ' criminate them- 
selves.' But, in the meaniime, I had possessed 
myself of their books and papers, and found 
two accounts, translations of which I inclose, 
marked B A, which show the whole transaction ; 
and which also show that one Kossuth, a clerk 
of the French consul, whose name appears in the 
account, received $528.92 as a fee for keeping 
the money within the French consulate ; that a 
douceur was given to Madam Mejan for the purpose 
of ' carrying out the affair well ;' that a lawyer 
was paid to deal with the consul in this matter ; 
and these papers, with the testimony of the 
president, director and cashier of the bank, put 
the guilt of Count Mejan beyond question. I 



beg leave to call your attention to this extra- 
ordinary amount of e.xpenses ($19,939.40). 

" I need not suggest to the department that 
it is its duty at once and peremptorily to revoke 
the exequatur of Count Mejan. He has connived 
at the delivery of army clothing of the Confederate 
army, since the occupation of New Orleans by 
the federal forces ; lie has taken away gold from 
the bank, nearly half a million of its specie to aid 
the Confederates ; acts which could not have 
been done without his aid, and that of the 
Spanish ship-of-war Blasco de Garay. 

" I leave the consul to the goverment at Wash- 
ington. I will take care sufficiently to punisii 
the other alien enemies and domestic traitors 
concerned in thi.s business whom I have here. 

"Upon examination of the parties, I found 
that a box containing all the papers relating to 
the transaction, which were not kept with the 
commercial papers of the house of Gautherin & 
Co., was deposited with the French Consul. I 
wrote to him, very politely, to have it delivered 
to me for the purpose of justice. I have again 
written him more peremptorily, and he has 
refused to do so, still concealing the proofs of 
guilt. If produced, I believe it will show him 
to be one of the five parties concerned in the 
illegal traffic mentioned in the account of ex- 
penses ; and however that may be, he now 
covers the criminal as he lately concealed the 
booty, which he, his wife and his clerk so largely 
shared. 

" T beg leave here to call the attention of the 
department to these transactions, as showing 
that I was clearly right when I ordered the 
specie deposits in the hands of Count Mejan to 
be sequestered. His flag has been made to 
cover all manner of illegal and hostile trans- 
actions, and the booty arising therefrom. I am 
glad that my action here has been vindicated to 
the world, and that the government of the 
United States will be able to demand of the 
French government a recall of its hostile agent. 

"I have the honor to be, 

" Very respectfully, your ob't serv't, 

"Benj. F. Butler, Major- Gen. Com. 

This it is to "investigate" an affair. I know 
not which most to admire, the vigor and the tact 
displayed in procuring tlie evidence, or the clear- 
ness with which the results of the inquiry are 
stated. 

General Butler alludes several times to the bill 
of " charges and expenses" found iu the books 
of Gautherin & Co. It is an extremely curious 
document. The following are the items : 

"June 29. By payment to Ed. Gautherin 
and Jules Lemore to go to Richmond, $481. 

" July 20. By remittance to them at Rich- 
mond, $450. French consul loan, $50. 

" March 1. Expenses of E. Gautherin k Co. 
and Jules Lemore for passage from New Or- 
leans to New York and Havre, $700. 

" May 27. Voyage of Ch. Privelland to Rich- 
mond and back, $543. Maintain to Richmond, 
live weeks, $475.50. Expenses of L. Grotairs 
at Antwerp, $9.98. Consul fees and certificates, 
$36.20. 

" A-Ugust 10. Present to Madam Mejan, {wife 
of French Consul), to close the affair well, $153. 
Colonel Lemat, as a bribe fur tfie affair to start 
welt, $2,500. V. Pritert, for the bill of Alexander, 



GUNEK \L BUTLER AND THE FOREIG-N CONSULS. 



103 



according to t!ie agrecuR'ul of the five interested 
parties, $5,000. Kossuth (clerk of French con- 
sul), one-eighth per cent, ol' $405,000, deposited 
in consulate, $528.20. Payment to Fuelle for 
getting the receipt, $500. Robert (lawyer), lor 
proceedings with authorities and consul, f 500. 

"August 3L Ch. Briolland, expenses to 
Matamoras, $3,790. Jules Lemore, expenses 
from January 1, to September 1, 1862, $1,089.71. 
Payment of cabs and transport of nine boxes of 
gold, $60. Expenses of telegraph and postage, 
$150. Insurance on gold in consulate, six 
months, one-half per cent, on $405,000, $2,025. 
River insurance on Blasco de Garay, one-eighth 
percent, on $260,000, $312.50. Marine insur- 
ance, from here to New York, on specie, $585.26. 
E. Gautherin, expenses paid in sum, $4,058.50. 
Ferran & Duprerris, Havana, as a memorandum, 
$4,058.50." 

Total, $19,939.40 1 1 

So much for the French Consul. I cannot 
resist the impression that the same methods of 
investigation, applied to other cases, would have 
yielded results strikingly similar. 

CASE OF KENNEDY & CO. 

Steamboat-hunting was a favorite pastime with 
the Union soldiers during the fifst weeks of their 
occupation of the city. The rebels had burned 
a large number of their steamboats, but many 
had been hidden iu bayous and swamps supposed 
to be impenetrable to the unaccustomed Yankee. 
The men had rare adventures in hunting this 
valuable game, some of which may hereafter be 
related. On board one of the steamers found, 
named the Fox, captured by General McMillan, 
a mail-bag was discovered, the contents of which 
brought several of the people of New Orleans 
into trouble — Messrs. Kennedy & Co., cotton 
merchants, among the number. 

General Butler briefly relates the case ; " Ken- 
nedy & Co., were merchants doing business in 
New Orleans, the members of which firm were 
citizens of the United States. They shipped 
cotton (bought at Vicksburg and brought to New 
Orleans) from a bayou on the coast, whence 
steamers were accustomed to run the blockade 
to Havana, in defiance of the law and the pres- 
ident's proolamation, and under the farther 
agreement with the Confederate authorities here, 
that a given per cent, of the value of their cargoes 
should be returned in arms and munitions of 
war for the use of the rebels. 

" Without such an agreement no cotton could 
be shipped from New Orleans, and this was 
publicly known ; and the fact of knowledge that 
a permit for the vessel to ship cotton could only 
be got on such terms was not denied at the 
hearing. 

" The cotton was sold in Havana, and the net 
proceeds invested in a draft (first, second, and 
.third of exchange) dated April 30th, 1862, pay- 
able to the Loudon agent of the house of Ken- 
nedy & Co., and the first and second sent forward 
to London, and the third, with account sales and 
vouchers, forwarded to the firm here through an 
illicit mail on board the steamer 'Fox,' likewise 
engaged in carrying unlawful merchandise and 
an illicit mail between Havana and the rebel 
£tatea. 

" The third of exchange and papers were 



captured by the army of the United States, on the 
10th day of May, on board the ^ Fox,\flagrante 
delictu, surrounded by the rebel arms and muni- 
tions, concealed in a bayou leading out of Bara- 
taria Bay, attempting to land her contraband 
mails and scarcely less destructive arms and 
munitions to be sent through the bayous and 
swamps to the enemy. 

" During all this time, P. H. Kennedy & Co. 
have not accepted the amnesty prottered by the 
proclamation of the commanding general, but 
preferred to remain within its terms rebels ann 
enemies. 

" Upon this state of facts, the commanding 
general called upon Kennedy & Co. to pay the 
amount of the net proceeds of the cotton (the 
third of exchange of the draft), which, ^ith the 
documents relating to this unlawful transaction 
he had captured, as a proper forfeiture to the 
government under the facts above stated ; which 
was done." 

General Butler voluntarily submitted this case 
to the judgment of Mr. Johnson, who decided 
against the forfeiture, on the following grounds : 

1. That there was no capture of the property 
or its representative while actually running the 
blockade. 

2. That there was no personal delection in 
Kennedy & Co. in the acts done by them, which 
could render them subject to forfeiture. 

3. That the blockade being raised by the 
proclamation of the president before the capture 
of the draft, all delection on account of the trans- 
action was purged. 

These points he argued precisely as he would 
have argued them had the rebellion been a legiti- 
mate war between two foreign nations; quoting 
such authorities as Yattel, Grotius, Puftendort; 
and Wheaton, who wrote on international law. 
General Butler yielded to the decision, and paid 
back the money ($8,641); but he could not 
refrain from reviewing Mr. Johnson's argument. 
Addressing Mr. Johnson himself, he remarked 
that, "as applied to this transaction, the cita- 
tions and arguments derived from elementary 
writers upon the law of nations, are of no value. 
This is not the case of a resident subject of a 
foreign state attempting to elude the vigilance 
of a blockade by a foreign power of a port of a 
third nation. The rule that the successful run- 
ning of the blockade, or a subsequent raising of 
the blockade purges the transaction so far aa 
punishment lor personal delection is concerned, 
is too familiar to need citation, at least by a 
lawyer to a lawyer. It would be desirable to 
see some citations to show that there was no 
personal delection in the transaction under con- 
sideration. 

" A traitorous commercial house directly en- 
gage in the treasonable work of aiding a rebellion 
against the government, by entering into a trade, 
the direct ettect of which is to furnish the rebels 
with arms and munitions. To do this they inten- 
tionally violate the revenue laws, the postal 
laws of their country, as well as the laws pro- 
hibiting trade with foreign countries from this 
port, and are caught iu the act, and fined only 
the amount of the proceeds of their illegal and 
treasonable transaction. 

" Their lives by every law, were forfeit to the 
country of their allegiance. 

" The reeresentative of that country takea a 



104 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



comparatively small fine from them and a com- 
loissioner of that same country refunds it because 
of its impropriety. 

" Grotius, Puti'eudorf, Vattel, and Wheaton 
will be searched, it is believed, in vain, for a 
precedent for such action. Why cite interna- 
tional law to govern a transaction between the 
rebellious traitor and his own government ? 
Ai'ound the state of Louisiana the government 
had placed the impassable barrier of law, cover- 
ing each and every subject, saying lo him, from 
that state no cotton should be shipped and no 
arms imported, and tliere no mails or letters 
should be delivered. 

" To warn oft' Ibieigner.s, to prevent bad men 
of our own citizens violating that law, the gov- 
ernment had placed sliips. Now, whatever may 
be the law z'elating to the intruding foreigner, 
can it be said for a moment that the fact that a 
traitor has successfully eluded the vigilance of 
the government, that that very success purges 
the crime, which might never have been ciminal 
but for that success. 

" The fine will be restored, because stare 
decisus, but the guilty party ought to be and 
will be punished. 

" A course of treatment of rebels which should 
have such results, would not only be 'rose- 
water,' but diluted ' rose- water. " 

" The other reason given for the decision that 
the blockade had been raised, is a mistake in 
point of liict, both in the date and the place of 
capture. The capture was not made of a vessel 
running into the port of New Orleans when the 
blockade was raised, but from one of those 
lagoons where, in form&r times, Lafitte the pirate 
carried on a hardly more atrocious business. 

" Something was said at the liearing that this 
money was intended by Kennedy & Co. for 
northern creditors. 

"Sending it to England does not seem the 
best evidence of that intention. 

"But, of course, no such consideration could 
enter into the decision. I have reviewed this 
decision at some length, because it seems to me 
that it oflers a premium for treasonable acts to 
traitors in the Confederate States. It says, in 
substance, ' Violate tlie laws of the United 
States as well as you can, send abroad all the 
produce of the Confederate States you can, to be 
converted into arms for the rebellion ; you only 
take the risk of losing in tramitu ; and as tlie 
profits are four-fold you can afibrd to do so. 
But it is solemnly decided that in all this there 
is no ^pursonal dtlacUoti,'' for which you can or 
ought to be punislied evon by a fine, and if you 
are, the fine shall be returned.' " 

Mr. Johnson replied to iliis review in a volu- 
minous and ably written argumeut, which was 
nauded to General Butler three hours before its 
author sailed for the North. There was, there- 
fore, no opportunity tor reply. The chief poiut 
of Mr. Johnson's new argumeut was, that there 
was no evidence tliut Kennedy & Co. had agreed 
to invest any portion of the proceeds of the 
cotton iu arms and munitions of war. They 
denied that they had either engaged to do this, 
or had done it. This defense, since by Con- 
federate law no cotton could be exported on 
any other terms, was equivalent to saying that 
Kennedy & Co. had been faithless to both gov- 



ernments, and were liable to two actions f(» 
treason instead of one. 

ENGLISH AND SPANISH MEN-OF-WAR AT NEW 
ORLEANS. 

The ofiicers and crews of foreign vessels-of- 
war tliat chanced to visit New Orleans in the 
summer and autumn of 1862, took pains to show 
that tliey were in accord with the secession consula 
and the disloyal citizens. New Orleans was a 
good place to learn that in iliis great quarrel 
there are arrayed against the United States the 
entire baseness, and a great part of the ignorance, 
of the human race. Every one in the world is 
against us, who is wiUing to live upon the unre- 
quited, or upon the ill-requited, labor of others. 

The British ship-of-war Rinaldo was in port 
during the early days of July. The humor of 
the officers and crew of this ship may best be 
shown from the matter-of-fact report of Mr. 
James Duane, lieutenant of police: — "Having 
learned on Thursday evening that a large crowd 
of turbulent citizens was collected on the levee 
opposite the steamer Rinaldo, and that on board 
that vessel certain parties were engaged in sing- 
ing the 'Bonnie Blue Flag,' and crying 'Down with 
the Stars and Stripes,' and that the crowd were 
responding b}^ cheers for Jeft'. Davis, the Southern 
Confederacy, &c. ; and, apprehending a riot, I 
detailed my entire force, and accompanied them 
myself to the levee, where I arrived about eight 
o'clock p. M., and found a crowd of nearly two 
thousand men, women, and children. From the 
ship I distinctly heard the singing of the 'Bonnie 
Blue Flag,' cheers for Jeff. Davis; cries of 
'Down with the Stars and Stripes,' and 'Up 
with the Flag of the Single Star.' The response 
by the crowd was not general, but confined to an 
occasional voice, and as fast as it occurred I 
arrested the party so responding. The same con- 
duct occurred ■ on Frid^ night, to my personal 
knowledge. 

"From my ofScers, and citizens residing in 
the neighborhood, I have received information 
that the same proceedings took place on the Wed- 
nesday evening preceding the above, and, in ad- 
dition, that on that evening a secession flag was 
flying on board the Rinaldo for a short time, and 
tliat a smaller flag of the Confederacj' was flying 
from the boats that conveyed visitors to and firom 
the vessel and the levee. On Saturday evening 
the same demonstrations were repeated, with the 
exception of the display of secession flags. And^ 
furthermore, on the same evening, between eight 
and nine o'clock, one of my ofiicers saw an offi- 
cer of the Rinaldo, in uniform, accompanied by 
a man wlio claimed to belong to that vessel, and 
a tall negro. The ofiicer was intoxicated, and 
was singing, the 'Bonnie Blue Flag.' My offi- 
cer stepped up to him and told him he must not 
sing that song. The British officer replied that 
'he would sing what he d:.imn pleased.' They 
then went on down the levee and got into their 
ship's boat, and as soon as they were out of the 
reach of the police ofiicer, called out ' God damn 

the Yankee sons of , one Enghshman can 

whip ten of them,' and again sung the ' Bonnie 
Blue Flag,' all joining in the song." 

Word was brought to General Butler, on the 
3d of July, that the captain of the Rinaldo had 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



105 



promised his secession friends to hoist the rebel 
flag OQ his ship on the morning of the fourth. 
The general, I am told, avowed to a confidential 
member of his staff, his solemn and deliberate re- 
solve, if the flag v/as officially di-splayed, to open 
fire upon the ship with artillery. The hoisting 
of the flag, he considered, would be more than 
an insult to the United States ; it would consti- 
tute the ship a rebel vessel, and, as such, she 
was to be fired upon, the very instant a Union 
gun could be brought to bear upon her. The re- 
port proved to be false. 

Still more outrageous was the conduct of the 
Spanish man-of-war. It was in a Spanish vessel, 
as we have seen, that the French consul slapped 
his $405,000. Other Spanish vessels-of-war caj-- 
ried away passengers, treasure, plate, papers, 
which were justly liable to seizure. " The deck 
oftheBlasco de Garay," wrote General Butler 
in October, " was literally crowded with passen- 
gers, selected with so little discrimination, that 
my detective officers found on board, as a pas- 
senger, an escaped convict of the penitentiary, 
who was in full flight from a most brutal murder, 
with his booty robbed from his victim with him." 
On other Spanish ships several persons deeply 
implicated in the rebellion, guilty of hostile acts 
after the capture of tlie city, eflected their escape 
to Havana, with large amounts of treasure. 
Hence the claim of General Butler to search de- 
parting vessels-of-war, and hence a ream of com- 
plaints and protests from Spanish officers. 

THE QUBANTINE IMBROGLIO. 

It is not generally known at the North, that, 
in the worst years, the mortality from yellow 
fever in New Orleans exceeds that from any 
epidemic that has ever raged in a civilized com- 
munity. It is worse than the modern cholera, 
worse than tlie small-pox before inoculation, 
worse than the ancient plague. A competent 
and entirely trustworthy writer gives the facts 
of the yellow fever season of 1853, the most fa- 
tal year ever known : 

" Commencing on the 1st of August, with one 
hundred and six deaths by yellow fever, one 
hundred and forty- two by all diseases, the num- 
ber increased daily, until (or the first week, end- 
ing on the 7 th, they amounted to nine hundred 
and nine deaths by yellow fever, one thousand 
one hundred and eighty-six of all diseases. The 
next week showed a continued increase: one 
thousand two hundred and eight3r-eight yellow 
fever, one thousand five hundred and twenty-six 
of all diseases. This was believed to be the max- 
imum. There had been nothing to equal it in 
the history of any previous epidemics ; and no 
one believed it could be exceeded. But the 
next week gave a mournful refutation of these 
predictions and calculations ; for that ever mem- 
orable week, the total deaths were one thousand 
five hundred and seventy-five, of yellow fever 
one thousand three hundred and forty-six. But 
the next week commenced more gloomilj^ still. 
The deaths on the 22d of August were two hun- 
dred andeighty-thiee of all diseases, two hundred 
and thirty-nine of yellow fever. This proved to 
be the maximum mortality of the season. From 
this it began slowly to decrease. The month of 
August exhibited a grand total of five thousand 
one hundred and twenty-two deaths by yeUow 



fever, and nearly seven thousand deaths of all 
disea.ses. Slowly the disease continued to de- 
crease, only for the want of victims, until on the 
6th of September (at which time these notes are 
transcribed), when it reached sixty-five deaths 
by yellow fever, and ninety-five deaths of all di- 
.seases. Looking back from this point, we find 
that the %vhole number of deaths by yellow fever, 
from its first appearance on the 28tli May, were 
seven thousand one hundred and eighty-nine — 
deaths from all diseases nine thousand nine hun- 
dred and forty-one. But there are three hmi- 
dred and forty-four deaths the cause of which is 
not stated in the burial certificates. At least 
three-fourths of these may be set down to the 
yellow fever column — which would add two hun- 
dred and fift}' more, and make the deaths by 
yellow fever seven thousand four hundred and 
thirty-nine. 

"But do these figures include all the deaths? 
Alas I no. Hundreds have been buried of whom 
no note was taken, no record kept.- Hundreds 
have died away from the city, in attempting to 
fly from it. Every steamer up the river con- 
tributed its share to the hecatombs of victims of 
tlie pestilence. Nor do these returns include 
those who have died in the suburbs, in the towns 
of Algiers and Jefl'erson City, in the villages of 
Gretna and Carrollton. But even these figures, 
deficient as they are, need uo additions to swell 
them into proofs that the most destructive plague 
of modern times has just wreaked its vengeance 
upon New Orleans. Estimating the total deaths 
at eight thousand for three months, we have tea 
per cent, of the whole population of New Orleans. 
At this rate it will only require two years and 
four months to depopulate the city. , 

" But onlj' the unacclimated are liable to the 
disease, and so we must exclude the old resident 
acclimated population, which, with slaves, and 
free colored persons, embrace at least two-thirds 
of the summer population of New Orleans. This 
would reduce the number liable to yellow fever 
below thirty thousand. Of that number one- 
fourth have died in three mouths. There is 
scarcely any parallel to this mortality. The 
great Plague of London, in 1665, destroyed one 
out of every thirteen and one-third of its popu- 
lation. That of New Orleans, in 1853, destroyed 
one out of every ten of its total population, and 
one out of every four of those susceptible of the 
disease. This exceeds the mortality in Philadel- 
phia, in 1798, when it was estimated that one 
out of every six died."* 

These are terrible figures. The year 1853, 
was, however, an exceptional year. New Or- 
leans has often escaped the yellow fever for years 
in succession. Its visitations were frequent 
enough to make it an ever present terror during 
the summer months, and to reduce the sum- 
mer population of tlie city to a comparatively 
small number of unacclimated persons. The 
city had never escaped it in such circumstances 
as existed in 1862 ; had never escaped it when 
the fever raged in the neighboring ports of Ha- 
vana and Nassau ; had never escaped it when 
the city was filled with persons unaccustomed to 
the climate. The rebels were, therefo-e, justified 
in anticipating, with perfect confidence, that the 
season of 1862 would present the same scenes 

* Harpers Magazine, November, 1853. 



106 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. 



of horror and devastation as those of 1853. 
ITo language can overstate the terrors of such 
a visitation. "Funeral processions," says the 
writer just quoted, " crowded every street. No 
vehicles could be seen except doctors' cabs and 
coaches, passing to and from the cemeteries, and 
hearses, often solitary, taking their way toward 
those gloomy destinations. The hum of trade 
was hushed. The levee was a desert. The 
streets, wont to shine with fashion and beauty, 
were silent. The tombs — the home of the dead 
— were the only places where there was life, 
where crowds assembled, where the incessant 
rumbling of carriages, the trampling of feet, the 
murmur of voices, and all the signs of active, 
stirring hfe could be heard or seen. 

" To reahze the full horror and virulenc eof the 
pestilence, you must go into the crowded locali- 
ties of the laboring classes, into those miserable 
shanties which are the disgrace of the city, where 
the poor immigrant class cluster together in filth, 
sleeping a half-dozen in one room, without ven- 
tilation, and having access to filthy, wet yards, 
which have never been filled up, and when it 
rains are converted into green puddles — fit 
abodes for frogs and sources of poisonous malaria. 
Here you will find scenes of woe, misery, and 
death, which will haunt your memory in all time 
to come. Here you will see the dead and the 
dying, the sick and the convalescent, in one and 
the same bed. Here you will see the living babe 
sucking death from the yellow breast of its dead 
mother. Here father, mother, and child die in 
one another's arms. Here you will find whole 
families swept oS" in a few hours, so that none 
are left to mourn or to procure the rites of burial. 
Ofl'ensive odors frequently drew neighbors to such 
awful spectacles. Corpses would thus proclaim 
their existence, and enforce the observances due 
them. What a terri'olo disease! Terrible in its 
insidious character, in its treachery, in the quiet 
seipent-like manner in which it gradually winds 
its folds around its victim, beguiles him by its 
deceptive wiles ; cheats his judgment and senses, 
and then consigns him to grim death. Not like 
the plague, with its red spot, its maddening fever, 
its wild delirium and stupor — not like the chol- 
era, in violent spasms and prostrating pains is 
the approach of the vomito. It assumes the 
guise of the most ordinary disease which flesh is 
heir to — a cold, a slight chill, a headache, a 
slight fever, and, after a while, pains in the back. 
Surely there is nothing in these ! ' I won't lay 
by for them,' says the misguided victim ; the 
poor laborer can not aSbrd to do so. Instead of 
going to bed, sending for a nurse and doctor, 
taking a mustard-bath and a cathartic, he re- 
mains at his post until it is too late. He has 
reached the crisis of the disease before he is 
aware of its existence. The chances are thus 
against him. The fever mounts up rapidly, and 
the poison pervades his whole system. He 
tosses and rolls on his bed, and raves in agony. 
Thus he continues for thirty-six hours. Then 
the fever breaks, gradually it passes off — ^joy and 
hope begin to dawn upon him. He is through 
now. 'Ami not better. Doctor?' 'You are 
doing well, but must be very quiet.' Doing 
well 1 How does the learned gentlemen know ? 
'Can he see into his stomach, and perceive there 
collecting the dark brown liquid which marks 
the dissolution that is going on? The fever sud- 



denly returns, but now the paroxysm is more 
brief Again the patient is quiet, but not so hope- 
ful as before. He is weak, prostrate, and bloodless, 
but he has no fever; his pulse is regular, sound, and 
healthy, and his skin moist. 'He will get well,' 
says the casual observer. The doctor shakes his 
head ominously. After a while, drops of blood 
are seen collecting about his lips. Blood comes 
from his gums — that is a bad sign, but such 
cases frequently occur. Soon he has a hiccough. 
That is worse than the bleeding at the gums : 
then follows the ejection of a dark brown liquid 
which he throws up in large quantities; and this 
in nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a 
thousand is the signal that the doctor's function 
is at an end, and the undertaker's is to com- 
mence. In a few hours the coffin will receive 
its tenant, and mother earth her customary 
tribute." 

Dr. McCormick, who was in the city during 
those fearful weeks, has assured me that this 
picture is not overcharged. 

It was such an evil as this that General But- 
ler set himself to ward from the city which he 
had been called to govern and protect. His suc- 
cess was most remarkable. The yellow lever 
raged at Nassau, at Havana, and at other neigh- 
boring ports, but New Orleans escaped. Twen- 
ty thousand unacclimated persons, strangers, 
northerners, were in Louisiana, but not one of 
them had the fever. On the contrary, the men 
of his command enjoyed an extraordinary ex- 
emption from all mortal disease. They suffered 
little from the continuous heat, less hrom violent 
maladies. 

There was, indeed, one moment of danger, and 
of great alarm at head-quarters. Dr. McCor- 
mick, late in the sea.son, when the danger was 
supposed to be nearly over, came into the Gene- 
ral's office one morning, and reported that a case 
of yellow fever of the worst type had been 
landed in the city. It was even so. The rigor 
of the quarantine had been once relaxed, and 
this was the alarming result. The affair was 
kept as secret as possible. The house in which 
the man lay was cleared of all inmates save him- 
self and one acclimated attendant. The block 
of which the house was part was walled around 
by sentinels. No living creature was permitted 
to enter or leave it. In five days the man died 
Every article in his room was burnt or buried. 
His attendant was quarantined. The house, the 
block, the quarter of the city, was fumigated, 
cleansed, and whitewashed. Every precaution 
which the skill of the doctors could devise and 
the authority of the general enforce was em- 
ployed. No one caught the disease. This 
single case, brought from Nassau, was all the 
yellow fever known in New Orleans during the 
eeason of 1862. 

It is of the highest importance to the future 
of Louisiana that the means employed by Gen- 
eral Butler to preserve the health of the city 
should be known. Sanitary science, as the 
reader is aware, was a familiar subject with him 
before he began his military career. His re- 
searches led him to adopt the theory that the 
yellow fever is indigenous in no region where 
there is frost every winter. There is frost every 
winter in every part of the United States. He, 
therefore, concluded that the yellow fever is not 
a disease native to our soil, but is always brought 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



107 



from a tropical port. The gulf coasts generate, 
it is true, the malaria which serves as a medium 
for the most calamitous spread of the disease ; 
tout the deadly poison which issues in the yellow 
fever is brought from abroad. The magazine is 
ready, but the foreign spark is indispensable. 
He relied chiefly, therefore, upon a quarantine ; 
and this he enforced with such rigorous impar- 
tiality, that the state department was inundated 
with complaints, reclamations, and protests, and 
the ear of the public was assailed with charges 
of favoritism and corruption. But he never re- 
laxed his clutch upon the throat of the Missis- 
sippi. " My orders" he wrote on one occasion, 
" are imperative and distinct to my health- 
officers, to subject all vessels coming from in- 
fected ports to such a quarantine as shall insure 
safety from disease. Whether one day or one 
hundred is necessiiry for the purpose, it will be 
done. It will be done if it is necessary to take 
the vessel to pieces to do it, so long as the United 
States has the physical power to enforce it. I 
have submitted to the judgment of my very 
competent surgeon at the quarantine the ques- 
tion of the length of time and the action to be 
taken to insure safety. I have by no order 
interfered with his discretion. If he thinks ten 
days sufficient in a given case, be it so ; if forty 
in another, be it so ; if one hundred in another, 
it shall be so." 

And so it was, as the volumes of documents 
unanswerably show. 

Here, I believe, we may take leave of the 
consuls for a while. As time wore on, they 
came to understand the altered conditions of 
their tenure of office. They learned that there 
really was in the world such a power as ihe 
the United States. They changed their opinion, 
too, of the man who represented that power in 
New Orleans; and during the latter half of 
General Butler's administration, his intercourse 
■with them was generally of the most friendly 
and agreeable character. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 

To revive the business of New Orleans and 
cause its stagnant life to flow again in its ordi- 
nary channels, was among the first endeavors of 
Oeneral Butler after reducing the city to order 
and providing for its subsistence. It was neces- 
sary, at first, to compel the opening of retaU 
stores, by the threat of a fine of a hundred 
dollars a day for keeping them closed. Me- 
chanics refused to work for the United States. 
Certain repairs upon the light steamers, essential 
to the supply of the troops, could only be got 
done by the threat of Fort Jackson. One burly 
contractor was imprisoned and kept upon bread 
and water till he consented to undertake a 
piece of work of urgent necessity. The cabmen 
and draymen, as we have seen, required to be 
cajoled or impressed. This state of feeling, 
however, .soon passed away. It was half affec- 
tation, half terror — the men only needed such a 
show of compulsion as would serve them as an 
excuse to their comrades. The ordinary busi- 
aeas of the city soon went on as it had before 



the capture. The railroads were set running as 
ar as the Union lines extended. 

"Will it pay to run it?" the general would 
ask. 

" Yes." 

" Then go ahead." 

So the people trafficked, and rode, and passed 
their days as they had been wont to do while 
under the sway of Mayor Monroe, General 
Lovell, and Mr. Soule. Perfect order generally 
prevailed. The general walked and rode about 
the city with a single attendant, by day and 
by night. A child could have carried a purse in 
its hand from Carrollton to Chalmette without 
risk of molestation. 

The commerce of the city could not be revived 
before the opening of the port. In one of his 
earliest dispatches. General Butler advised that 
measure, as well as a general amnesty for all 
past political offenses. The planters, however, 
were distrustful, and feared to place their sugar 
within reach of the Union authorities. 

To remove their apprehensions, the following 
general order was issued: 

"New Orlkans, May 4, 1862. 
" The commanding general of the department 
having been informed that rebellious, lying and 
desperate men have represented, and are now 
representing, to the honest planters and good 
people of the state of Louisiana, that the United 
States government, by its forces, have come here 
to confiscate and destroy their crops of cotton 
and sugar, it is hereby ordered to be made known, 
by publication in all the newspapers of this city, 
that all cargoes of cotton and sugar shall receive 
the safe conduct of the forces of the United 
States, and the boats bringing them from beyond 
the lines of the United States forces, may be 
allowed to return in safety, after a reasonable 
delay, if their owners so desire; provided, they 
bring no passengers except the owners and 
managers of said boat, and of the property so 
conveyed, and no other merchandise except 
provisions, of which such boats are requested to 
bring a full supply, for the benefit of the poor of 
this city." 

In anticipation of the opening of the port to 
northern trade, and in order to convince the 
holders of produce that New Orleans was already 
a safe market, the general determined, at once, 
to commence the purchase and exportation of 
sugar on government account. What merciiants 
would call a " brilliant operation" was the result 
of his endeavors. Lying at tte levee he had a 
large fleet of transports, which, by the terms of 
their charters, he was bound to send home in 
ballast. There is no ballast to be had in New 
Orleans at any time, and none nearer than the 
white sand of Ship Island, five days' sail and 
thirty hours' steam from the city. There was 
sugar enough on the levee to ballast all the 
vessels, iit an immense saving to the govern- 
ment, to say nothing of the profit to be real- 
ized in the sale of the sugar at the North. 
He determined to buy enough sugar for the 
purpose. 

To show the wisdom of this measure, take the 
case of the steamer Mississippi, hired at the rate 
of fifteen hundred dollars a day. "She must 
have," exolaiued the general, " two hundred and 



108 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



fifty tons of ballast. To ?o to Ship Island and 
have sand brought alongside in small boats, will 
take at least ten days ; to discharge the same 
and haul it away, will take four more. Thus, it 
will cost the government twenty-one thousand 
dollars lo ballast and discharge the ship with 
sand, to say nothing of the cost of taking llie 
sand away, or the average delays of getting it, 
if it storms at Ship Island. Now, if 1 can get 
some merchant to ship four hundred hogsheads 
of sugar in the Mississippi as ballast, which can 
be received in two days almost at the wharf 
where she lies, and discharged in two more, the 
government will save fifteen thousand dollars by 
the diflference, even if it gets nothing for freight. 
But, by employing a party to get the ballast, see 
to its shipment, and take charge of the business, 
as a ship's broker, and agreeing to let him have 
all he can get over a given sum — say five dollars 
per hogshead for his trouble and expenses of 
lading — the government in the case given will 
save two thousand dollars more — four hundred 
hogsheads, at five dollars — say, in all, seventeen 
thousand dollars." 

It was dilBcult to start the afiair from want 
of money. The government had no money then 
in New Orleans, and the general had none. By 
the pledge of the whole of his private fortune 
($150,000), be borrowed of Jacob Barker, the 
well-known banker, one hundred thousand dol- 
lars in gold, and with this sum at command, he 
proceeded to purchase. Merchants were also 
permitted to send forward sugar as ballast, on 
paying to the government a moderate freight. 
The details of this transaction were ably ar- 
ranged by the general's brother, a shrewd and 
experienced man of business, who was allowed 
a commission for his trouble. The affair suc- 
ceeded to admiration. The ships were all bal- 
lasted with sugar. The government took the 
sugar bought by the general's own money, and 
repaid him the amount expended; the whole 
advantage of the operation accruing to the 
United States. The sole result to General But- 
ler was a great deal of trouble, and, at a later 
period, a great deal of calumny. The owners 
of some of the transports conceived the idea 
that the freight should be paid to them, or at 
least a part of it. General Butler opposed their 
claims, and the dispute was protracted through 
several months. The captains of the vessels, I 
am told, still rest under the impression that in 
some mysterious way the general gained an im- 
mense sum by this export of sugar. Mr. Chase 
knows better. He, if no one else, was abun- 
dantly satisfied with the transaction. 

Having touched upon the subject of the 
calumnies so assiduously circulated with regard 
to the administration of General Butler in New 
Orleans, it may, perhaps, be as well to add here 
the little that remains to be said on that edifying 
subject. 

First, let me adduce another little operation 
which has been construed to his disadvantage. 
I refer to a small quantity of cotton sent home 
from Ship Island by General Butler, which 
chanced to arrive a short time before the papers 
that explained the transaction. 

"This cotton," wrote General Butler to the 
quartermaster-general, " was captured by the 
navy on board a small schooner, which it would 



have been unsafe to send to sea. I needed the 
schooner as a lighter, and took her from the 
navy. What should be done with the cotton? 
A transport was going liome empty — it would 
cost the United States nothing to transport it.. 
To whom should I send it ? To my quarter- 
master at Boston ? But I supposed him on the 
way here. Owing to the delays of the expedi- 
tion, I found all the quartermaster's men and 
artisans on the island, whose services were in- 
dispensable, almost in a state of mutiny for want 
of pay. There was not a dollar of government 
funds on the island. I had seventy-five dollars 
of my own. The sutler had money he would 
lend on my draft on my private banker. I bor- 
rowed on such draft abo\it four thousand dollars, 
quite equal to the value of the cotton as I re- 
ceived it, and with the money I paid the govern- 
ment debts to the laborers, so that their wives 
and children would not starve. In order that 
my draft, should be paid, I sent the cotton to my 
correspondent at Boston, with directions to sell 
it, pay the draft out of the proceeds, and hold 
the rest, if any, subject to my order; so that, 
upon the account stated, I might settle with the 
government. "What was done? The govern- 
ment seized the cotton without a word of expla- 
nation to me, kept it until it had depreciated tea 
per cent., and allowed my draft to be dishonored; 
and it had to be paid out of the little fund I left 
at home for the support of my children in my 
absence." 

Subsequent explanations completely satisfied 
the government, and the money was refunded. 

As these two transactions were the only ones 
of a commercial nature in which General Butler 
engaged while commanding tiie Department of 
the Gulf, and the only ones. I believe, in which 
he was ever concerned, the reader now has 
before him the entire basis of the huge super- 
structure of calumny raised by the malign per- 
sistence of rebels and their allies. Both of these 
transactions were solely designed to aid the 
work in hand, to remove unexpected obstacles, 
to anticipate measures which the government 
must instantly have ordered had it been near the 
scene of action. 

But he had a brother. It is true, he Tiad a 
brother. 

When the port was opened in June, the* con- 
dition of affairs was such that no man in busi- 
ness, with either capital or credit at command, 
could fail to make money with almost unex- 
ampled rapidity; Turpentine in New Orleans 
was a drug at . three dollars ; in New York, it 
was in demand at thirty-eight. Sugar in New 
Orleans was worth three cents a pound ; in New 
York, six. Flour, in New York, six dollars a 
barrel ; New Orleans, twenty -four. Dry goods 
in New York were selling at rates not greatly in 
advance of prices before the war ; in New Or- 
leans, every article in the trade was scarce and 
dear. The rates of exchange were such as to 
aftbrd an additional profit of fifteen per cent, on 
all transactions between the two ports. In such 
a state of aftairs, the most useful class of persons 
are those whom ignorance and envy stigmatize 
as speculators. It is tliey who quickly restore 
the commercial equilibrium, who raise the value 
of commodities in one port and reduce it in the 
other, who give New York sug'ar and turpentine 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



109 



whicb are useless in New Orleans, and supply 
Mew Orleans with the means of procuring com- 
modities essential to comfort and health. The 
general's brother was one of the lucky men who 
chanced to be in business at New Orleans at the 
critical moment. An able man of business, with 
an experience of thirty years, with considerable 
capital and more credit, he engaged in this lucra- 
tive commerce with all the means and credit he 
could command. His gains were large; not as 
large as those of some other men ; but large 
enough to satisfy a reasonable ambition. He 
neitlier bad nor needed any advantages which 
were not enjoyed by other merchants. The 
anomalous state of things was his sufficient op- 
poitunity. A merchant of half his talent could 
not have failed to increase his capital with a ra- 
pidity altogether unexceptional. Later in the year, 
came the confiscations of rebel property, with 
frequent sales at auction of valuable commodi- 
ties. Of this business, too, he had an ample 
aliare — just the share his means and talents en- 
titled him to. No more and no less. 

It is impossible to prove a negative. Any one 
can make a vague charge of corruptioa but no 
man can demonstrate it to be false. I can, 
therefore, only say. with reference to these in- 
tangible accusations, that I have now spent the 
greater part of a year surrounded by tlie papers, 
printed and manuscript, relating to General But- 
ler's administration of the Department of the 
■Gulf; I have become, by repeated perusal, as 
familiar with tlvose papers as a lawyer does with 
the documents of his greatest case; I have con- 
versed almost daily with the gentlemen of stain- 
less name and lineage who were in the closest 
intimacy with him during the whole period of 
his administration, such as the heroic, lamented 
Strong, beau-ideal of gentleman and soldier, such 
as Major Bell, another name for uprightness ; I 
have listened attentively to all who had a tale to 
tell against General Butler, and have read the 
articles adverse to him that have appeared in the 
papers, and tried, in all ways, to get hold of some 
one charge definite enougli for investigation ; 
and the result of all this conversation and in- 
quiry has been to produce in my mind the ut- 
most possible completeness of conviction that 
'General Butler's administration was as pure as it 
was able. Everywhere in his dispatches I find 
truth and candor — no suppression, no half-truths, 
nothing designed to convey an impression at 
variance with the truth. 1 find that men loved 
him in proportion to their own loyalty and truth. 
I find his enemies, both there and here, to be 
enemies of their country and of human rights. 
All the testimony, including especially that of 
his foes, points to one conclusion — that he was 
a wise, humane, and honest ruler of a most per- 
A'erse generation. 

Corruption there was in New Orleans, as one 
notorious individual can testify, who found him- 
self in the peniteutiaiy one day, sentenced to 
twenty-one years at hard labor for peculating the 
property of the government. Power was abused 
in New Orleans, as power always is by whom- 
soever it is wielded. But it was not abused with 
the knowledge or consent of the commanding 
general, nor were the evil-doers shielded by him 
from the just penalty eith^ ©f crime or of error. 
His rule in Louisiana was greatly just and greatly 



wise. It was the harsh conflict of two antago- 
nistic civilizations, both imperfect, one fatally so. 
It was the sudden setting up of the rule of justice 
in a community which had almost lost the tra- 
dition of a just rale. It was a bringing of the 
inflation, the arrogance, the meanness, and the 
falsehood engendered by slavery, to the lest of 
Yankee common sense and Yankee coma.on law. 
From such a conflict there must needs arise a 
great outcry. Somebody must be hurt. Every 
creature that is hurt, cries out in the language 
natural to it. The natural language of an 
"original secessionist,"' damaged in a conflict 
with justice and good sense, and, at the same 
time, deprived of bowie-knife and pistol, is cal- 
umny of the man by whom that justice and good 
sense are brought to bear upon his pretensions. 
Falsehood is the element in which those un- 
happy people live, move, and have their being. 

But to resume. In one particular, General 
Butler's designs with regard to the commerce of 
New Orleans were baffled. He could not get 
cotton in any considerable quantity, although it 
was a constant object of his endeavors. The 
reason, as given to him by well-informed Louis- 
ianians, was this: About one-half of the planters 
had burned their cotton, and these men would 
not permit their less etithusiastic neighbors to 
reap the advantage of their prudence. A little 
cotton was procured from Mobile, by exchanging 
one bale of cotton for one sack of salt, and a little 
more was brought from Texas by special arrange- 
ment. It can not be said, however, that the 
world's supply of this commodity was much in- 
creased by the capture of New Orleans. Perhape, 
two or three thousand bales may have been pro- 
cured in all. 

The currency of New Orleans was in a condition 
deplorably chaotic. Omnibus tickets, car tickets, 
shinplasters and Confederate notes, the last 
named depreciated seventy per cent by the fall 
of the cit}', were the chief medium of exchange. 
The coin had been removed from the vaults of 
the banks to a place within the Confederate lines, 
except that part of it which was deposited in the 
consulates. In compliance with the entreaties 
of Mr. Soule, and with the obvious necessities of 
the situation. General Butler had permitted the 
temporary circulation of Confederate notes ; but 
as this concession was known to be but tem- 
porary, it did not materially enhance the value 
of that spurious currency. The banks had been 
growing rich upon the traffic in Confederate 
paper, bought at a discount, paid out at par. 
When most other investments were unproduc- 
tive, bank shares had yielded large dividends. 
Until September, 1861, as many readers remem- 
ber, the banks of New Orleans had held aloof 
from the practical support of the Confederacy, 
had refused to suspend specie payments, and had 
transacted only a legitimate business. At that 
time, however, a threat of "harsh measures" 
from the Richmond government gave to some of 
the banks the pretext which they coveted for 
abandoning the honest course, and the rest were 
compelled to follow the bad example. Thence- 
forward, business in Louisiana was done in Con- 
federate notes, and the paper of the banks was 
little seen in circulation. The consequences of 
the sudden depreciation of those notes may be 
readily imagined. As the offer of the city to 



IW 



EFFORTS TOWARDS RESTORATION. 



redeem the notes was not ftilfilled, they remained 
almost the sole medium of exchange in the hands 
of the people. 

Such a state of things obviously demanded the 
prompt interference of the commanding general. 
The series of bold, original and masterly measures 
by which General Butler, in the course of a few 
weeks, gave to New Orleans a currency as sound 
;ind convenieut as that of New York and Boston, 
merits the reader's particular attention. 

There was oue redeeming fact in the finaucial 
condition of the citj^ to serve as a fulcrum to the 
general's lever. Most of the banks (all of them 
but three) were solvent and strong. True, their 
coin was gone, but it was not supposed to be 
lost. Granting the coin to be safe, the banks 
were able to redeem their circulation, and safely 
afford the city the currency it needed. It re- 
quired all the general's intimate knowledge of 
banking, and all the force of his will, to bring 
the banks to perform this duty ; but after a 
struggle against manifest destiny, they all sub- 
mitted. 

The banks, I may premise, were anxious re- 
specting the safety of their coin. After a con- 
ference with the general on the subject, an im- 
portant favor was asked him in writing by two 
gentlemen representing the banking interest. 
"We understood you to say," wrote these gen- 
tlemen, May 13th, " that you were disposed to 
reaffirm the declaration made in your first proc- 
lamation, that private property of all kinds should 
be respected. You added that if the treasure 
^vithdrawn by the banks should be restored to 
their vaults, you would not only abstain from 
interference, but that you would give it safe con- 
duct, and use all your power individually, as well 
as of the forces of the United States under 
your command, for its protection; that the 
question as to the proper time of the resumption 
of specie payments should be left entirely to the 
judgment and discretion of the banks themselves, 
with the understanding on your part and ours 
that the coin should be held in good faith for the 
protection of the bill-holders aud depositors. On 
their part the banks promised to act with scrupu- 
lous good faith to carry out their understanding 
with j'ou ; that is. to restore a sound currency 
as soon as possible, and to provide for the re- 
sumption of regular business as soon as the exi- 
gencies of our trade require it. You are aware 
that a large portion of the coin of the banks is 
beyond their control, and that we can only 
promise to use our best exertions for its return. 
Should we fail, we will immediately advise you 
of the fact. In the meau time, we request of 
you the favor to give us the authority to bring 
back the treasure within your lines, with the 
safe conduct of the same from that point to this 
city." 

The general gave the required permits, but the 
act was superfluous. 

Memminger, the secretary of the rebel treas- 
ury, refused to give it up. " The coin of the 
banks of New Orleans," he wrote, July 6th, 
" was seized by the government to prevent it 
falling into the hands of the public enemy. It 
has been deposited in a place of security, under 
charge of the government ; and it is not intended 
to interfere with the rights of properly in the 
banks farther than to insure its safe custody. 
They may proceed to conduct their business in 



the Confederate States upon this deposit, just a» 
though it were in their own vaults." 

The banks then endeavored to get both gov- 
ernments to consent to their sending the coin to 
Europe during the war; and General Butler 
rather favored the scheme, provided a European 
goverii'iaent would lake it in charge. The plan 
failed, however, to gain approval ; and the gen- 
eral consented to permit the banks to do business 
upon the basis of the absent coin, "just as 
though it was in their own vaalts." Unless he 
had done this, his whole scheme of reforming the 
currency must have failed. 

General Butler's first financial measure was to 
suppress the Confederate notes. At the begin- 
ning of the third week of the occupation of the 
city, the following general order appeared : — 

New Orlkans, May 16, 1862. 

•' I. It is hereby ordered that neither the city 
of New Orleans, nor the banks thereof, exchange 
their notes, bills, or obligations for Confederate 
notes, bills, or bonds, nor issue any bill, note, or 
obligation payable in Confederate notes. 

"II. On the 27th day of May inst., all circu- 
lation of, or trade in, Confederate notes and bills 
will cease within this deparcment ; and all sales 
or transfers of property made on or after that 
day, in consideration of such notes or bills, di- 
rectly or indirectly, will be void, and the property 
confiscated to the United States, one-fourth 
thereof to go to the informer." 

Great was the agitation in bank parties on the 
day this order was promulgated. At once the 
question arose. Who is to bear the loss, the 
banks or the public ? The banks had no doubts 
upon the subject. The newspapers of the next 
morning contained a long string of short adver- 
tisements, which agreeably divei'sifled the usual 
uniformity of the advertising columns. The fol- 
lowing may serve as specimens : 

" All parties having deposits of Confederate 
notes with us are hereby notified to withdraw 
them prior to the 27th inst. Such balances as 
may not be withdrawn will be considered at the 
risk of the owners, and held subject to their 
order." 

" JUDSON & Co., 
" Corner of Camp and Canal sti-eets." 

"Banking House o? bAiii'i. Smith «fc Co., 
" Nkw Orleans, May 19, 1862. 

" All persons having deposited Confederate 
notes in this banking-house are notified to with- 
draw them before the 27 th inst. Such balances 
as may not then be withdrawn will be consid- 
ered at the risk of the owners. 

"Sam'l Smith & Co." 

" Merchants' Bank, 
"New Orleans, May 19, 1S62. 

"This bank is prepared to pay balances iu 
Confederate notes, which must be drawn before 
the 27 th inst. 

"Wm. S. Mount, Cashier." 

The banks, therefore, were resolved to throw 
the entire mass of the Confederate currency upon 
the impoverished people. They had introduced 
that currency, grown rich upon it, received ii at 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



Ill 



pai'; and now, when it was nearly worthless, 
they designed to escape the entire loss of the de- 
preciation. Every one outside of the banks was 
in consternation. The people knew not what to 
do. If they withdrew their deposits, they would 
receive sundry pieces of valueless printed paper. 
If they did not, the deposits were " at their own 
risk" — a phrase of fearful import at such a time. 
What rendered the course of the banks the more 
exasperating was the flict, that a great and 
wealthy corporation, professing an entire faith in 
the ultimate triumph of the Confederacy, could 
afford to hold Confederate paper, while a poor 
trader in New Orleans would be ruined by the 
suspension of his little capital. 

The anger of General Butler was kindled. 
He, the " enemy," was striving night and day to 
save the people of New Orleans from starvation, 
and restore the business of the city to life. 
They, the fellow-citizens of those people, thought 
only of saving their ill-gotten wealth. In the 
course of the day upon which the bank adver- 
tisements appeared, he penned his famous Gen- 
eral Order, No. 30, which was published in the 
papers of the following morning : 

" New Oelbans, May 19, 1862. 

" It is represented to the commanding general 
that great distress, privation, suffering, hunger, 
and even starvation has been brought upon the 
people of New Orleans and vicinage by the 
course taken by the banks and dealers in cur- 
rency. 

" He has been urged to take measures to pro- 
vide, as far as may be, for the relief of the citi- 
zens, so that the loss may fall, in part, at least, 
on those who have caused and ought to bear it. 

" The general sees with regret that the banks 
and bankers causelessly suspended specie pay- 
ments iu September last, in contravention of the 
laws of the state and of the United States. 
Having done so, they introduced Confederate 
notes as currency, wliich they bought at a dis- 
count, in place of their own bills, receiving {hem 
on deposit, paying them out for their discounts, 
and collecting their customers' notes and drafts 
in them as money, sometimes even against their 
win, thus giving these notes credit and a wide 
general circulation, so that they were substituted 
in the hands of the middling men, the poor and 
unwary, as currency, io place of that provided 
by the constitution and laws of the country, or 
of any valuable equivalent. 

"The banks and bankers now endeavor to 
take advantage of the re-establishment of the 
authority of the United States here, to throw 
the depreciation and loss from this worthless 
atuff of their creation and fostering upon their 
creditors, depositors, and bill-holders. 

" They refuse to receive these bills while they 
pay them over their counters. 

" They require their depositors to take them. 

" They change the obligations of contracts hy 
stamping their bills, ' redeemable in Confederate 
notes.' 

" They have invested the savings of labor 
and the pittance of the widow iu this paper. 

" They sent away or hid their specie, so that 
the people could have nothing but these notes, 
which they now depreciate — with which to buy 
bread. 

"All other property has become nearly valuci 



less from the calamities of this iniquitous and 
unjust war begun by rebellious guns, turned on 
the flag of our prosperous and happy eountryr 
floating over Fort Sumter. Saved from the- 
general ruin by the system of financiering, bank 
stocks alone are now selling at great premiums 
in the market, while the stockholders have re- 
ceived large dividends. 

" To equalize, as far as may be, this general 
loss ; to liave it fall, at least in part, where it 
ought to lie ; to enable the people of this city 
and vicinage to have a currency which shall at 
least be a semblance to that which the wisdom 
of the constitution provides for aU citizens of 
the United States, it is therefore 

" Ordered: 1. That the several incorporated 
banks pay out no more Confederate notes to 
their depositors or creditors, but that all deposits 
be paid in the bills of the bank, United States 
treasury notes, gold or silver. 

" II. That all private bankers, receiving de- 
posits, pay out to their depositors ouly the cur- 
rent bills of city banks, or United States treasury 
notes, gold or silver. 

" III. That the savings banks pay to their 
depositors or creditors only gold, silver, or 
United States treasury notes, current bills of 
city banks, or their own bills, to an amount not 
exceeding one-third of their deposits and of de- 
nomination not less than one dollar, which they 
are authorized to issue and for the redemption 
of which their assets shall be held liable. 

" IV. The incorporated banks are authorized 
to issue bills of a less denomination than five 
dollars, but not less than one dollar, anything in 
their charters to the contrary notwithstanding, 
and are authorized to receive Confederate notes 
for any of their bills until the 27th day of May 
instant. 

" V. That all persons and firms having issued 
small notes lOr 'shinplasters,' so called, are re- 
quired to redeem them on presentation at their 
places of business, between the hours of 9 a. m. 
and 3 p. m., either in gold, silver, United States 
treasury notes, or current bills of city banks, 
under penalty of confiscation of their property 
and sale thereof, for the purpose of redemption 
of the notes so issued, or imprisonment for a 
term of hard labor. 

" VI. Private bankers may issue notes of de- 
nominations not less than one nor more than ten 
dollars, to two-thirds of the amount of specie 
which they show to a commissioner appointed 
from these head-quarters, in their vaults, actually 
kept there for the purpose of redemption of such 
notes." 

So the game of the banks was " blocked." The 

relief afforded to the people by the publication 
of this order was such, that, as a secessionist 
remarked to one of the general's staff, it was 
equivalent to a reinforcement of twenty thousand 
men to the Union army. Union men in New- 
Orleans say, that nothing but the continual bad 
news from General McClellan's army in the pe- 
ninsula prevented this measure from causing an 
open and general manifestation of Union feeling 
among the respectable traders of the city. But 
the impression could not be removed from 
the minds of the people, while such intelligence 
kept coming, that the stay of the army would 
be but short ; and every man feared to commit 



112 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



himself to a course that would invite the ven- 
geance of the returning Confederates. 

All the banks submitted, in silence, except 
one — the Bank of Louisiana. I think I must 
afford space for tho following curious correspon- 
dence that passed between that institution and 
General Butler: 

THE BANK TO GENERAL BUTLER. 

"No. 148 Canal Street, 3Iay 21, 1862. 

" Sir : — The Board of Directors of the Bank 
of Louisiana held a special meeting this morning, 
in order to take into consideration your Order 
No. 30. The meeting was full, with the excep- 
tion of a single member ; for all were impressed 
with the gravity of the question about to be sub- 
mitted. 

" The result of their deliberation was the 
the adoption of certain resolutions, which I have 
now the honor to submit to you. 

"At the same time I was instructed to make 
a few observations in explanation of tiieir course, 
and especially to disclaim and disavow the justice 
of any imputation affecting their rectitude, in- 
tegrity or honor. As a proof of their confidence 
in their disinterestedness, they invite the most 
searching examination of all their books, includ- 
ing the minutes of their proceedings, and of every 
, act of their administration, even their private 
accounts with the bank, by any competent per- 
son whom you may select for that purpose; 
and they are willing to abide the result, either 
as ofiBcials or as individuals. 

" In the discharge of their difficult and delicate 
duties, knowing and feeling that their intentions 
were pure and upright, they have an abiding 
confidence of their exculpation from the influence 
of all sordid or selfish motives. 

"If required, I will wait on you and afiford 
every explanation in my power. • 
" I have the honor, &c.. &c., 
" W. Newton Mercer, President pro tem. 

" Major-General Butler, U. S. A., &c. 

" Note. — Of the capital stock of the bank — 
28,000 shares — the directors own about one- 
tenth. To the bank they owe nothing." 

RESOLUTIONS of THE DIRECTORS. 

"Bank op Louisiana, May 21, 1862. 

" As this bank is unable to comply with the 
conditions, and act under the restrictions imposed 
upon it by Order No. 30, issued by General 
Butler, and as imputations have been cast upon 
the conduct and characters of its directors, 

" Therefm-e, Resolved, unanimously, That Gen- 
eral Butler be invited to appoint some competent 
person, in whom he has confidence, to examine 
thoroughly the condition of this bank since its 
suspension of specie payments, as well as the 
action of its directors since the 1st day of Sep- 
tember last. 

"That the cashier be instructed to give to 
General Butler's agent, if one be appointed, 
every facility for such an examination of all its 
books, papers, vaults, desks and drawers, and to 
afford him every information touching the ad- 
ministration of this bank during the period 
: already mentioned, together with an inspection 
■ of the private accounts of the directors. 



" That, in the meantime, till General Butler's 
final determination be ascertained, the opera- 
tions of the bank must necessarily be suspended, 
as it has in its possession none of its own issue 
and only a very small amount of coin. 

" I certify that the action above mentioned 
was held this morning by the Bank of Louisiana. 
" "W". Newton Mercer, President pro tem. 

"New Orleans, May 21, 1862." 

general butlkb to the bank. 

" Head-quarters, Dkpart.vent of the Gulp, 
" New Orleans, May 22, 1862, 

" "W. Newton Mercer, Esq., President of the 

Bank of Louisiana : 

" Sir : — I have received your communication, 
covering the unanimous action of the directors 
of the Bank of Louisiana. To their request, that 
I would appoint a commission to examine the 
affairs of the bank, I can not accede. With the 
mismanagement or the contrary of the bank, I 
have nothing to do, except so far as either 
affects the interest of the United States. 

" The assigned reason for the call for this ex- 
amination, that ' the integrity and good faith of 
the directors have been impugned,' will not 
move me, if it refer to General Order No. 30, 
which speaks of acts and facts, not motives. 

" Your note says, that the directors own but 
one-tenth of the capital stock of the bank. 
Without consulting the owners of the other 
nine-tenths — nearly three millions of dollars — 
this one-tenth took this immense wealth from 
its legal place of deposit, and sent it flying over 
the country in company with fugitive property 
burners, among the masses of a disorganized, re- 
treating, and starving army, whence it is more 
than likely never to return again. Again ; the 
time it would take to make an investigation, 
which would show the good management, to say 
nothing of the purity of motive of such a trans- 
action, can not be spared by any officer of my 
command. Ex una disce omnes. 

" The directors of the bank of Louisiana have 
all seen General Order No. 30, and have acted 
upon it as a corporation. So your note shows. 

" They will now advise themselves whether 
they will act in accordance with its requirements 
upon their corporate and individual peri), and 
inform me, within six hours after the receipt of 
this, of their determination. 

" I have the honor to be, respectfully, your 
obedient servant, 

B. F. Butler." 

the bank to general butler. 

"Bank of Louisiana, 
" New Orleans, Muy 22, 1862. 

" To Major-General B. F. Butler, 

Commanding Department of the Gulf: — 
■"Sir: — I have received your communication 
of this day in answer to my letter accompanying 
the proceedings of the directors of this bank. 

"The board of directors were immediately 
summoned to a special meeting; and as you 
leave no alternative but compliance with youJ 
mandate, they will conform to Order No. 30. 
" Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
" W. Newton Mercer. Pree't jpro tem." 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



113 



Confederate notes disappeared from circulation. 
Bank-notes and green-backs look their place. A 
few weeks later, the omnibus tickets and shin- 
plasters were replaced by small notes issued by 
Governor Shepley and the city government. 
Thus, the currency of the city was completely 
restored. 

General Butler required from the banks a 
monthly report of their transactions and their 
condition. Two of them which he ascertained 
to be hopelessly insolvent, he ordered to be 
closed and to go into liquidation. Another, 
which was weak, he caused to be strengthened. 
His later intercourse with the officers of the 
banks was more amicable than at first They 
were surprised to find that a major-general of 
volunteers was as much at home in their own 
province as if he had spent his life in a banking- 
bouse. 

An anecdote from the Delta will serve to show 
how the general's order secured the rights of ene- 
mies as well as friends; 

" Among the rebel prisoners taken the other 
day was an officer, whom we shall call Captain 
Johnson. He, before going to the war, had de- 
posited three hundred dollars in the Bank of 
Commerce. Upon his return to the city upon 
parole, he called at the bank to inquire about his 
funds. After much fumbling, it was admitted 
that he had deposited the sum named. 
"'Well,' said he, 'I want it' 
* * " Thereupon he was reminded that he had 
made his deposit in Confederate notes. 

"'Very true,' he replied, 'but at that time 
Confederate notes were current and valuable.' 

'■ ' Oh,' muttered the banker, ' I must give it 
to you in the currency in which you deposited.' 
"'But,' said .the captain, 'Confederate notes 
are worthless now.' 

The banker was firm, and the Captain re- 
tired. He called the next day and renewed his 
demand for his money. He was told, as before, 
that he must take Confederate notes. 

' ' i suppose I must,' observed the Confederate 
captain. 

" The banker paused, and then inquired : ' But 
what can you do with Confederate notes? They 
are worthless here, and it is against the law to 
pass them. 

' ' That's just what I have been telling you,' 
said the captain ; ' but since you will not give me 
anything else, I presume I had better take Con- 
federate notes.' 

" ' Yes, yes. yes, yes,' nervously spluttered 
the banker ; ' but what can you do with Con- 
federate notes? 

"'Well,' replied Johnson, 'I will tell you 
squarely what I will do. I will take them to 
General Butler and try to get gold for them.' 

" Upon this, the banker counted out three hun- 
dred dollars in United States treasury notes, and 
•Captain Jobusou retired.' 

Some stern retributory measures remained to 
be enforced against the banks of New Orleans. 
The following general order was issued early in 
June : 

Nbw Orleans, June 6, 1862. 
" Any person wno has in his possession, or 
■subject to his control, any property of any kind 
or description whatever, of the so-called Confed- 



erate States, or who has secreted or concealed, 
or aided in the concealment of such property, 
who shall not, within three days from the pub- 
lication of this order, give full information of the 
same, in writing, at the head-quarters of the mili- 
tary commandant, in the Custom-House, to the 
a.ssistant military commandant, Godfrey Weitzel, 
shall be liable to imprisonment and to have his 
property confiscated." 

This order, being interpreted, signified (among 
other things), that whatever sums of money might 
be standing upon the books of the banks iu tiie 
name of the rebel government, were now the prop- 
erty of the United States; which property the 
banks would please prepare to surrender. The 
order was promptly obeyed. 

A few days after. General Butler had the 
pleasure of sending to Mr. Chase the sum of 
$245,760, the amount of Confederate funds given 
up by the several banks. "This," remarked the 
general, " will make a fund upon which those 
whose property has been confiscated may have 
claim." 

Another act of justice remained to be done by 
the banks and other dividend-paying corpora- 
tions of New Orleans. Witness the following 
order : 



"New Orlkans, July 9, 1862. 
" All dividends, interests, coupons, stock-certifi 
cates, and accruing interest, due any or payable 
by any incorporated or joint-stock company, ta 
any citizen of the United Slates; and any notes, 
dues, claims, and accounts of any such citizen, 
due from any such company, or any privat* per- 
son or company within tliis department, which 
have heretofore been retained under any sup- 
posed order, authority, act of sequestration, gar- 
nishee process, or in any way emanating under 
t!ie supposed Confederate States, or the state of 
Louisiana, since the fraudulent ordinance of 
secession, are hereby ordered to be paid and de- 
livered respectively to the lawful owners thereof 
or their duly authorized agenls." 

This order restored to many citizens of the 
northern states a portion of their annual income 
which they had long ago given up as lost. Nor 
was this all. The mercantile debts were e.x:- 
tracted from such of the debtors as had not 
squandered all their property. The papers be- 
fore me show that there was an active business 
done, at this time, in compelling the payment of 
sums due to northern creditors. The ingenious 
devices of the repudiators to avoid or postpone 
the agony of disgorging, were numerous and 
sometimes successful. The usual issue of the 
struggle, however, was a short, sharp order from 
the general: Pay instanter, or be sold up! The 
individual, I observe, who repudiated a debt 
of $20,000 to General Anderson, of Fort Sumter 
celebrity, was one of those upon wiiose property 
General Butler laid his retributive hand. 

Direct efforts were systematically made, during 
the whole period of General Butler's rule, to pro- 
mote Union feeling. Union clubs were en- 
couraged. "The Union Ladies' Association" for 
clothing the children of volunteers, lield frequent 
meetings. The fourth of July was celebrated 



lU 



EFFORTS TOWARD RESTORATION. 



with all possiole eclat. There were nuincrous 
tiag'-raisir/gs. Union meetings were often held, 
addressed b\- tlie orators both of the army and 
of the city. The general caused to be cut deep 
into the granite base of the statue of General 
Jackson, the motto originally designed to adorn 
it: 

" The Union' — it Must and Shall be Pre- 
served." 

Much good was done by these efforts. Seed 
was sown which might have borne glorious 
fruit when the success of the Union arms had 
given the Union men of the city an assurance of 
safety. 

New Orleans, during the administration of 
General Butler, possessed, for the first time in its 
history, a court of justice in whicli it was^wssiife 
for justice to be done. A code of law which ex- 
cludes from the witness-box the very class who 
are the most likely to be the witnesses of crime, 
and against whom the greatest number of crimes 
are committed, banishes justice from the land in 
which it exists. One of Major Bell's first deci- 
sions in the provost court placed white men and 
black men upon an equality before the law. A 
hunker democrat did this glorious thing! A 
negro was called to the witness-stand. 

"I object," said the counsel for the prisoner; 
"by the laws of Louisiana a negro can not testify 
against a white man." 

" lias Louisiana gone out of the Union ?" asked 
Major Bell, with that imperturbable gravity of 
his, that veils his keen sense of humor. 

"Yds," said the lawyer. 

""Well, then," said the judge, "she took her 
laws with her. Let the Man be Sworn!" 

Immortal words ! From that moment dates 
the renovation of Louisiana ! 

Again. Henry Dominique, a free man of color, 
was arrested for not having free papers. The 
prisoner could only protest that he was a free 
man. The court decided, that every man must 
be presumed to be free until the contrary was 
shown. Dominique was discharged. 

Major Bell's court was among the lions of the 
town. During a considerable part of General 
Butler's stay, ho administered all the justice that 
was done in New Orleans, according to the forms 
of a court. He decided all cases, from a street 
broil to questions of constitutional law, from 
petty larceny to high treason, from matrimonial 
squabbles to suits for divorce. He would dis- 
pose of fifteen cases in thirty minutes. An hour 
was a long trial. He was pestered, at first, with 
malicious suits, to avenge injuries committed be- 
fore the capture of the city — a kind of case that 
sometimes resulted in penalties to both parties ; 
oftener in a prompt dismissal of both from the 
court. Suits of the most frivolous character were 
brought before him. Que morning, two women 
presented themselves, each to prefer a complaint 
against the other. 

'• Stand there," said he to one of them. " Stand 
rhere," to the other. " Now both speak at once, 
and talk for five minutes." 

Two torrents of vituperation poured from the 
two mouth.s. The judge kept his eye upon his 
watch, and at the end of the time, said : 

"Now, both of you go home and behave your- 
selves." 



The women departed with evident satisfaction , 
they had relieved their minds. 

Some of the cases demanded au intimate knowl- 
edge of local law. For example: Major Bell 
observed a colored woman hanging about his 
office for several successive days, iu evident dis- 
tress of mind. He asked her. one day, wliat she 
wanted. She said that all her goods had been 
seized by her landlord for rent, though she had 
paid the rent and had his receipt. It was another 
tenant of the same house, she said, who was de- 
linquent, and had moved awa}' in the night, 
leaving her goods liable to seizure. The land- 
lord being summoned, admitted the truth of the 
woman's atovy, and pointed out tlie old statute 
which gave landlords the right to seize any pro(>- 
erty iu his house for unpaid rent. Major Bell 
read this astonishing .statute, and was compelled 
to admit that the landlord had the law on his side. 
He remonstrated with him, however, and pointed 
out the cruel injustice which he had committed 
in seizing the property of an honest woman. 
The man was surly, and said that all he wanted 
was the law. The law gave him the goods and 
he meant to keep them. Major Bell was posed. 
He scratched his wise-looking head. Suddenly, 
he had an idea. 

" Are you a free woman?" he asked the com- 
plainant. 

"No," said she, "I belong to ." 

" Sir," said the judge to the landlord, '• another 
statute requires the written consent of the owner 
before a tenement can be let to a slave. Pro- 
duce it." 

The man hadlbrgotten this statute. He could 
not produce the document. 

" Take your choice," said Major Bell ; " either 
give back the woman's property or pay the 
fine." 

The man preferred to restore the goods, and 
the poor washerwoman was saved from ruin. 

"Master," said she, with the eloquence of 
perfect gratitude, " if you get the yellow fe- 
ver, send for me, and I'll come and take care of 
you." 

A government needs a government organ. 
During the month of May, several of the news- 
papers of New Orleans were suspended by or- 
ders from head-quarters. They pubhshed the 
most- extravagant rumors of federal disasters, 
and closed their columns against the true intelli- 
gence. Their comments hovered upon the verge 
of treason, and, not unfrequeutly, passed beyond 
the verge. A sudden order to suspend would 
bring them to a sense of the anomalous situa- 
tion ; they would promise submission ; and were 
generally allowed to resume publication in a day 
or two. 

One of these newspapers, the Delta, noted lor 
the virulence of its treason, was otherwise 
treated. The office was seized, and permanently 
held. Two officers, experienced in the conduct 
of newspapers. Captain John Clark, of Boston, 
and Lieutenant-Colonel E. M. Brown, of thf- 
Eighth Vermont, were detailed to ed't the paper 
in the interest of the United States. The fifst 
number of the regenerated Delta appeared on 
the 24th of May, 1862, and it continued under 
the same direction until the 8lh of February, 
1863. It was conducted with very great ability 
and spirit. Besides the labor of the editors, it 
had the advantage of occasional contributions- 



EFFECT OF THE FAILURE IN VIRGINIA. 



115 



from Major Bell and other officers ; the com- 
manding general himself frequently giving it the 
aid of his suggestions. Several ladies of New 
Orleans contributed. One of them, Mrs. Taylor, 
who adopted the signature of "Nellie,'' wrote 
many lively satirical sketches, which greatly 
amused the readers of the paper, besides calling 
forth the exertions of other ladies of similar 
character. In one feature the Delta, differed 
strikingly frum the ordinary newspapers of the 
South. Tour true southerner, your " original 
secessionist," is a very serious peisonage. Yanity 
of the intenser sort is a serious foible ; proud ig- 
norance is serious ; cruelty is serious ; one-idea 
is serious. There is no joke in your true south- 
erner; and as a consequence, his newspaper is 
generally a grave and heavy thhig, euhvened 
only by vituperation and ferocity. The sport- 
impulse comes of an excess of strength. The 
man of true humor is so much the master of his 
subject that he can play with it, as the strong 
man of the circus plays with cannon-balls. The 
regenerated Delta was one of the most humor- 
ous of newspapers. Almost every issue had its 
good joke, and a great many of its jocular para- 
graphs wore exceedingly happy hits. 

Allusion has been made to the secession songs 
and secession sentiments taught to the children 
of the public schools. The schools were dis- 
missed for the summer vacation two weeks 
earlier than usual, and during the interval the 
school system was reorganized on the model of 
that of Boston. A bureau of education and a 
superintendent of public schools were appointed 
— good Union men all. The old teachers were 
dismissed, and a corps, true to their country, 
selected in their stead. School-books tainted 
with treason and pro-slavery were banished, 
and were replaced by such as are used in 
Northern schools — Union song-books not being- 
forgotten. The new system worked well, and 
continues to this day to diftuse sound knowledge 
and correct sentiments among the people of New 
Orleans. 

Such were some of the measures of the com- 
manding general, designed to restore Louisiana 
to a degree of its former prosperity and good 
teeling. They were as successful as the circum- 
stances of the time permitted. The levee showed 
some signs of commercial activity. The money 
distributed by the army gave life to the retail 
trade. The poorer classes were won back to a 
love for the power which protected and sus- 
tained them. The original secessionists were, 
are, and will ever be, there and everywhere, the 
bitter foes of the United States; but, among 
those who had reluctantly accepted secession 
because they supposed it inevitable, the general 
and the Union gained hosts of friends, who re- 
main to this day, in spite of much discourage- 
ment, loyal to the government. 



CHAPTER XYIIL 

THE EFFECT IN NEW ORLEANS OF OUE LOSSES 
IN VIRGINIA. 

The Union army in the Department of the 
Gulf consisted of about fourteen thousand men, 
und the disasters in Virginia, which increased a 



hundred-fold the difficulty of holding New Or- 
leans, forbade the re-enforcement of that army. 
Ship Island, Fort Jackson, Fort St. Philip, Baton 
Rouge, ports upon the lakes and elsewhere, re- 
quired strong garrisons, which reduced the eflec- 
tive men in and near the city to a number in- 
adequate to a successful defense of the place 
against such an uttaok as might be expected. 
General Butler was perfectly aware that the re- 
covery of the city was an object which the rebels 
had distinctly proposeil to themselves. It was 
the real aim Of all that series of niovomeuts of 
which the attack upon Baton Rouge, by Breck- 
inridge, was the most conspicuous. The gen- 
eral's excellent spy system brought him this in- 
formation, and most of his own measures were 
more or less influenced by it. 

One powerful iron-clad ram could have cleared 
the river in an hour of the Union fleet. That 
done, the city might have fallen before the well- 
concerted attack of a force such as the rebels 
were known to be able to assemble. They could 
not have held the city long ; but they might 
have taken it, and held it long enough to do in- 
finite mischief; or they might have necessitated 
its destruction. 

The temper of the secessionists in New Orleans 
was the worst possible. Liais are generally 
credulous, at least they are easily made to be- 
lieve lies, though they find it so difficult to re- 
ceive the truth. The news from Virginia would 
have sufficed to neutralize, for a time, the gene- 
ral's best measures, even if it had come without 
exaggerations. But news from Virginia uni- 
formly came first through rebel sources by tele- 
graph, while the truth arrived only after a long 
sea voyage. To show the eflect of this inflam- 
matory intelligence, take one incident as related 
by an officer of General Butlers staff; 

" As a result of this continuous report of na- 
tional defeats before Richmond, St. Charles 
street, near the hotel, was yesterday (July 10th) 
the scene of yiolence and threatening trouble. 
A young woman dressed in white and of hand- 
some personal appearance, about 10 o'clock, 
passed by the hotel, wearing a secession badge. 
She finally insulted one of our soldiers, and was 
arrested by a policeman, who attempted to take 
her to the mayor's office. As a matter of course, 
there was instantly a scene of confusion, as she 
had selected the time when she would find the 
most obnoxious secessionists parading the vi- 
cinity. Upon reaching the building next to the 
Bank of New Orleans, she theatrically appealed 
to the crowd for protection, and the next mo- 
ment the policeman was knocked down, and a 
shot was fired out of the store, and. wounded the 
soldier assisting the civil officer. Thereupon a 
hundred persons, retuined soldiers of Beaure- 
gard's army, cried murder, and one of the na- 
tional officers at the same moment fired at the 
assassin who wounded the soldier. In the con- 
fusion the murderers escaped, but the woman, 
together with some of her most prominent sym- 
pathizers, were conveyed before General Shepley 
at the City Hall. Upon being brought into the 
presence of General Shepley, she commenced the 
utterance of threats and abuse, and, further, 
took out of her bosom innumerable bits of paper, 
on which were written insulting epithets, ad- 
dressed to the United States authorities, and one 
by one thrust '■hem into General Shepley's hand. 



116 



EFFECT OF THE FAILURE IN VIRGINIA. 



After Bome few questions she was put into a car- 
riage and conveyed to General Butler's head- 
quarters, where she was recognized as the mis- 
tress of a gambler and murderer, now, by Gene- 
ral Butler's orders, confined at Fort Jackson, 
but nominally passing as the wife of one John 
H. Larue." 

There was every reason to believe that this 
was a concerted scene between the woman and 
the crowd. General Butler sent for her hus- 
band, who, on being asked his occupation, re- 
plied, that he '• played cards for a living." The 
general disposed of the case thus : 

"John H. Larue, being by his own confession 
a vagrant, a person without visible means of 
snjpport, and one who gets his living by playing 
cards, is committed to the parish prison until 
farther orders. Anna Larue, his wife, having 
been found in the public streets, wearing a Con- 
federate flag upou her person, in order to incite 
a riot, which act has already resulted in a 
breach of the peace, and danger to the life of a 
soldier of the United States, is sent to Ship 
Island till farther orders. She is to be kept sep- 
arate and apart from the other women confined 
•there." 

The hideous events attending the funeral of 
Lieutenant De Kay, of General Williams's stafl", 
showed the true quality of the '" original seces- 
sionists;" showed, at once, their cowardice, their 
meanness, and their ferocity ; and proved the 
necessity for those strong measures by which the 
secessionists of the city were deprived of cheir 
power to co-operate with their friends beyond the 
Union lines. 

Lieutenant De Kay, summoned from his 
studies in Europe by the peril of his country, 
was on board a gun-boat descending the Missis- 
sippi, when it was fired into by guerillas. He 
received twelve buck-shots in his body. He 
lingered a month in New Orleans, enduring his 
sufterings with heroic cheerfulness, content to 
die for his country. He expired en the 27th of 
June, mourned by the whole army. General 
Butler was at Baton Rouge on the day of the 
funeral, and his absence emboldened the baser 
rebels, who seized the opportunity to insult the 
funeral cortege with laughter and opprobrious 
outcries. Women again appeared in the streets 
wearing Confederate colors. The notorious Mrs. 
Philips, formerly a member of Mr. Buchanan's 
boudoir cabinet, banished from Washington as an 
ally of traitors, saluted the procession with osten- 
tatious laughter from the balcony of her house. 
Many other women took pains to exhibit their 
exultation. A bookseller placed in the window 
of his store a -skeleton labeled " Chickahominy." 
Another miscreant exhibited, in a club-room and 
elsewhere, a cross which he said was made of a 
Yankee's bone. When the procession arrived at 
the church, the galleries were found filled with 
a rabble of fikhy scoundrels, the " dregs of the 
city," whose demeanor was in keeping with that 
of their instigators out-of-doors. No minister 
appeared to conduct the last ceremonies. Dr. 
Leacock, the pastor of the church, a weak, 
vacillating man, had promised to officiate, but 
had been induced to break hia promise by the 
persuasions of members of his church : and other 
arrangements for the ceremony had to be hastily 
made amid the sneers and exultation of the crowd. 

The scenes of that afternoon we-e so profound- 



I ly disgusting, so exasperating to the loug-suffei- 
I ing troops, that, probably, no other body of meu 
! ever assembled in arms would have had the self- 
' control to bear them in silence.* They did bear 
1 them in silence. Not a resentful word, still less 
1 a resentful act escaped them. It probably oc- 
curred to most of the troops that General Butler 
was expected home on the following day ; and 
to him they knew they could safely commit the 
vindication of outraged decency. 

The general, meanwhile, had been enjoying a 
pleasant excursion up the river, and was return- 
ing well pleased with what he had seen and 
heard at the capital of the state. 

Mrs. Philips, and the exhibitors of the skeleton 
and the cross, were brought before him. The 
manner in which he disposed of their cases can 
best be shown by presenting three special orders, 
issued on the day after his retnrn. 

" New Orleans. June 30, 1852. 

" Mrs. Philips, wife of Philip Philips, having 
been once imprisoned for her traitorous procliv- 
ities and acts at Washington, and released by 
the clemency of the government, and having 
been found training her children to spit upou offi- 
cers of the United States at New Orleans for which 
act of one of those children both her husband 
and herself apologized and were again forgiven, 
is now found on the balcony of her house during 
the passage of the funeral procession of Lieuten- 
ant De Kay, laughing and mocking at his re- 
mains ; aud, upon being inquired of by the com- 
manding general if this fact were so, contempt- 
uously replies, ' I was in good spirits that day.' 

" It is, therefore, ordered. That she be not re- 
garded and treated as a common woman of 
whom no officer or soldier is bound to take no- 
tice, but us an uncommon, bad, and dangerous 
woman, stirring up strife and inciting to riot. 

" And that, therefore, she be confined at Ship 
Island, in the state of Mississippi, within proper 
limits there, till fiarther orders ; aud that she be 
allowed one female servant and no more it she 
so choose. That one of the houses for hospital 

* The following, from the pen of Lieutenant (now 
General) Godfrey Weitzel, appeared in the Delta the 
next morning. 

ToTiiR Editor OF the Delta. — This afternoon the 
funeral of De Kay wa.s held. A younpofficer of ifie I'nlted 
States .iriiiy was burit-d. who, in every respect, was tho 
peer of any youns man in the South. We who knevy, 
loved and admired him. He wns fatally wounded a 
month ago while defendins; a cause in which he took the 
sword as honotly. with as high tont-d feelings of duty, 
as any riiiin now fighting for the South. He left his 
studies in Europe to espouse this cause, because he hon- 
estly and sinceri-ly believed it to lie his duty. He was 
woiinded but liow? From behind a bush, witli buck- 
shot fired from a gun, probably by a man who would 
not have dared to meet him openly. He lingers a month. 
Not a woiil of CO uplaint or reproach pa.-SHd his lip. Al- 
ways happy and cheerful even unto his last moment. 
We requested yesterday the use of a house of Goil, in 
which to show to his mortal remains our respect. It is 
granted, but how? After moving through collections 
of street cars, crowded with ladies wearing secession 
bailgi-s, and passively smiling and cheerful crowds stu- 
diously collected to insidt the dea<l, we arriveil at the 
house of the Lord. We find it thrown open like a sta- 
ble, as if by military compulsion. We enter, an<l find 
the galleries and other i)rominent places occupied by a 
rabble and negroes — a collection such as never deflleu a 
church before. 

"Gentlemen and ladles of New Orleans and of the 
South, there waa no chivalry in this. 

" G. Weitzrl, Lieutenant U. S. Engintert. 

" New Okleans, June 28, 1862. 



EFFECT OF THE FAILUEE IN VIRGINIA. 



117 



purposes be assigned her as quarters; and a 
soldier's ration each day be served out to her, 
with the means of cooking the same ; and that 
no verbal or written communication be allowed 
with her except through this office ; aud that she 
be kept in close confinement until removed to 
Ship Island." 

New Okleans, June 30, 1S62. 

"Fidel Keller has been found exhibiting a hu- 
man skeleton in his book -store window, in a pub- 
lic place in this city, labelled ' Chickahominy,' in 
large letters, meaning and intending that the 
bones should be taken by the populace to be the 
bones of a United States soldier slain in that 
battle, in order to bring the authority of the 
United Slates and our army into contempt, and 
lor that purpose had stated to the passers-by that 
the bones were those of a Yankee soldier ; 
whereas, in truth and fact, they were the bones 
purchased some weeks before of the Mexican 
consul, to whom they were pledged by a medical 
student. 

"/i< is, therefm-e, ordered, That for this descra- 
tioD of the dead, he be confined at Ship Island 
for two years at hard labor, and that he be al- 
lowed to communicate with no person on the 
island except Mrs. Philips, who has been sent 
there for a like oflense. Any written message 
may be sent by him tlirough these head-quarters. 

" Upon this order being read to him, the said 
Keller requested that so much of it as associated 
him with ' that woman ' might be recalled, which 
request was therefore reduced to writing by him 
as follows : 

" New Orleans, ./nne 30, 1862. 
" ' Mr. Keller desires that that part of the sen- 
wbich refers to the communication with Mrs. 
Philips be stricken out, as he does not wish to 
have communication with said Mrs. Philips. 

" ' F. Keller. 
" ' Witness, D. Waters.' 

"Said request seeming to the commanding 
general reasonable, so much of said order is re- 
voked, and the remainder will be executed."* 

" New Okleans, Ju7i6 80, 1862. 

" John W. Andrews exhibited a cross, the em- 
blem of the suffering of our blessed Saviour, 
fashioned for a personal ornament, which he said 
was made from the bones of a Yankee soldier, 
and having shown this too, without rebuke, in 
the Louisiana Club, which claims to be com- 
posed of chivalrio gentlemen, 

"/i! is, therefore, ordered, That for this dese- 
cration of the dead, he be confined at hard labor 
for two years on the fortifications of Ship Island, 
aud that he be allowed no verbal or written com- 
munication to or with any one, except through 
these head-quarters." 

Mrs. Philips, I may add, was released after 
several weeks detention. She went to Mobile, 

* The explanation of Keller's curious request ig this : 
There was another Mrs. Philips in New Orleans, noto- 
rious as a keeiier of a housK of ill-faine. The prisoner 
having only heard of this Mrs. Philips, had the decency 
to desire to l)e kept apart from her, fearing, as he said, 
the effect upon the feelings of his wife if he should be 
associated with such a woman. The general was not 
kware of the cause of his scruples at the time. 



where she received an ovation from the leaders 
of society, and was the subject of laudatory par- 
agraphs in the newspapers. She had the grace, 
however, to deny having intended to insult the 
remains of Lieutenant De Kay. She said that 
she really was in high spirits that day, and that 
her ill-timed merriment was not provoked by 
the passage of the funeral procession. 

A trifling circumstance, of a ludicrous nature, 
may serve to show something of the disposition 
of the people — ;just as we learn the feelings of a 
family from the prattle of the children. Among 
a batch of captured letters was found one fcova a 
certain Edward Wright, a resident of New Or- 
leans, to a lady in Secessia, full of the most 
ridiculous lies. He told his correspondent that 
the Yankee officers were the most craven 
creatures on earth. One of them, he said, had 
insulted a lady in the streets, which Wright per- 
ceiving, he had slapped the officer's face and 
kicked him, aud then offered to meet him in the 
field ; but the officer gave some " rigmarole ex- 
cuse" and declined. For this, he continued, he 
was taken before Picayune Butler, and came 
near being sent to Fort Jackson. 

General Butler caused the writer of this epistle 
to be brouglit before him, when the following 
conversation occurred between them: 

" What is your name ?" 

" Edward Wright." 

" Have I ever had the pleasure of seeing you 
before ?" 

" Not that I know of." 

" Have you ever been before an officer of the 
United States charged with any oflFense?" 

" No, sir." 

" Have you ever had any difficulty or misun- 
derstanding with an officer of the United States 
in the streets or elsewhere ?" 

"Never, sir." 

" Have you any complaint to make of the con- 
duct of any of my officers or men ?" 

"None, sir." 

" Have you ever observed any misconduct od 
their part, since we arrived in the city ?" 

" Never, sir." 

The general now produced the letter, and 
handed it to the prisoner. 

"Did you write that letter?" 

" It looks like my handwriting." 

" Did you write the letter ?'' 

"Yes; I wrote it." 

" Is not the slory of your slapping and kicking 
the officer, an unmitigated and malicious lie, de- 
signed to bring the army of the United States 
into contempt ?" 

" Well, sir, it isn't true, I admit." 

The general then dictated a sentence like this, 
which was written at the bottom of the letter : 
"I, Edward Wright, acknowledge that this 
letter is basely and abominably false, and that I 
wrote it for the purpose of bringing the army of 
the United States into contempt." 

" Sign that, sir." 

" I won't. I am a British subject, and claim 
the protection of the British consul." 

" Sign it, sir." 

" General Butler, you may put every ball of 
that pistol through my brain, but I will never 
sign that paper." 

"Captain Davis, make out an order to the 
provost-marshal, to hang this man at daybreak 



il8 



EFFECT OF THE FAILURE IN VIRGINIA. 



to-inorrow. In tlie meantime, let him have any 
piiest he chooses to send for. Gentlemen, I am 
going to dinner." 

Before the general had reached his quarters, 
an orderly came running up. 

" General, he has signed." 

" Well, keep him in the guard-house all night, 
and let him go in the morning." 

A conspiracy' to assassinate general Butler was 
detected early in June. The proofs were suflBcient 
to warrant the arrest of four abandoned char- 
acters. The general, content with the discovery 
and frustation of the plot, forboi-e to prosecute 
the men, and agreed to pardon the ringleader 
on condition of his leaving the city. The general 
did this in compliance with the entreaties of his 
aged father, who had fought under General 
Jackson, in the war of 1812, and had remained 
true to his country. 

These incidents may suffice to show the dis- 
position of the secessionists of New Orleans, 
inflamed by the news from Virginia, increased 
in number by the partial dissolution of Beaure- 
gard's army and encouraged to expect an at- 
tempt to drive the Union army from the soil of 
Louisiana. 

Hence the justification of those measures, 
about to be related, which reduced the secession 
party in New Orleans to a stale of " subjugation," 
the most complete. Before entering upon those 
measures, it will be proper to show that not the 
rebels onlj^ felt the weiglit of General Butler's 
iron hand. Offenses committed by adherents of 
the Union against the people of the city, were 
visited with punishment as prompt and rigorous 
as any which were perpetrated against the 
country and the flag. 

It was in connection with the searches for 
concealed properly of the Confederate govern- 
ment, under the general order of June 6th, that 
the tragical events occurred to which I allude, 
and which were among the most notable of 
General Butler's administration. No one was 
allowed to enter a house for the purpose of 
searching, without a written order from General 
Butler, General Shepley, or Colonel French. 
For several days the searches proceeded quietly 
enough, without exciting remark. But about 
the middle of June, complaints came pouring 
into head-quarters of parties entering houses for 
the ostensible purpose of searching for Confed- 
erate arms, who carried off valuable private pro- 
perty, such as money and jewels. The detection 
of these villains was remarkably prompt. 

On the 12th of June, at noon, a complaint was 
brought to General Butler of a most audacious 
and flagrant outrage of this kind. A cab drove 
up to a house in Toulouse street, from which 
issued two men, who entered the house and pre- 
sented to the inmates an order to search for 
arms, signed, apparently, by General Butler. 
Two men remained in the cab while the .search 
proceeded. The two who entered the house, 
and rummaged its closets and drawers, behaved 
to the family with great politeness, expressing 
their regret at having been ordered upon so un- 
pleasant a duty, and declaring their desire to 
perform that duty with as little inconvenience to 
the inmates as possible. Upon retiring, they 
were so good as to leave a certificate to this 
effect : 

" J. William Henry, First-Lieutenant of the 



Eighteenth Massachusetts volunteers, has search- 
ed the premises No. 93 Toulouse street, and 
find, to the best of my judgment, that all the 
people who live there are loyal. Please examine 
no more. '' J. William Henky." 

" After the departure of these urbane and con- 
siderate gentlemen, the lady of the house found 
that they had carried with them eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty dollars, a gold watch, and a 
breastpin. Another sum of over eight thousand 
dollars they had overlooked. 

There was but one clue to the discovery of 
these men. They had ridden to the house in 
cab No. 50, wliich had remained before the 
door during the search, and in which the search- 
ers had departed. The driver of cab No. 50. 
who was immediately brought before the general, 
was required to relate the history of his doings 
during the previous night. In the course of the 
afternoon, the coffee-house to which he had last 
conveyed his passengers, was surrounded, and 
every man in it was brought before the general. 
There were four of them. General Butler never 
forgets a face that he has once seen. After 
looking at the men a moment, he asked one of 
them : 

" Where have I seen you?" 

" In Boston." 

" Where in Boston ?" 

"In the Municipal Court." 

" For what offense were you tried before that 
court ?" 

"Burglary." 

" Did you join any regiment?" 

" Yes." 

"Which?" 

" The Thirtieth Massachusetts." 

" Why are you not with your regiment?" 

" I was discharged." 

"What for?" 

" Disease." 

" Well, you ought to be hanged any how, for 
you have robbed before, and been convicted. 

" Don't do it, general, and I'll tell you all 
about it." 

"Well, make a clean breast of it, then." 

The man confessed. He said that he was one 
of an organized gang, who had been entering 
houses for several nights and plundering. The 
particular offense committed in Toulouse street 
was brought home, on the spot, to two others of 
the arrested men, who confessed their guilt. A 
considerable part of the stolen money was re- 
covered and restored. Three more of the gang 
were arrested by Colonel Stafford's detectives on 
the following day. General Butler disposed of 
these flagrant cases by ordering four of the ring- 
leaders to be executed, and sentencing the others 
to imprisonment. 

The crime was committed on trhe 1 1th, detected 
on the 12th, two of the criminals were tried on 
the 13tli, two more on the 15th, and the whole 
ordered to be executed on the 16lh. The man 
whose confossion led to the conviction of the 
offenders was sentenced to five years' imprison- 
ment at hard labor. Two or three other less 
guilty participants were sentenced to six months 
at Ship Islani with ball and chain. 

Those who observed the mingled nonchalance 
and severity of General Butler's demtanor during 
those four days, may naturally have concluded 



THE .SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 



119 



that it coat him no great exertion of will to haug 
these criminals. In reality, it caused liim tlie 
severest internal conflict of his whole life. During 
the excitement of ihe detection and trial, there 
was indeed, no room for any emotion but dis- 
gust at the crime and exultation at his sueccs.s 
in discovering the perpetrators. It was far dif- 
ferent on the Sunday preceding the day of exe- 
cution, when the men lay at his mercj' in prison, 
when the wives of two of them came imploring 
tor mercy, when the distant families of the other 
two were brought tjo his knowledge, and when 
the softer hearted of his own military family 
pleaded for a commutation of the sentence. Mrs. 
Butler was at the North for the summer. Alone 
that night, the general paced his room, consider- 
ing and reconsidering the case. He could not 
.and a door of escape for these men. He had 
executed a citizen of New Orleans for an offense 
against the flag of his country ; lio"w could he 
pardon a crime committed b}-^ Union men against 
the citizens of New Orleans, a crime involving 
several distinct offenses of the deepest dye ? 
His duty was clear, but he could not sleep. He 
paced his room till the dawn of day. 

The men were executed in the morning; all 
but one of them confessing their guilt. To one 
of the families thus left destitute, the general gave 
4i sewing-machine, by which they were enabled 
to earn a subsistence. 

The effect of this prompt and rigorous justice 
was most salutary upon the minds of both parties 
In New Orleans ; and its effect would have been 
as manifest as it was real, but for the disturbing 
influence of the terrible tidings from Virginia ; 
in the presence of which the wisdom of an arch- 
angel would have failed to give confidence to the 
'oval people of Louisiana, or win to the Union 
cause any considerable number of the party for 
eecession. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 

AVe may now proceed to consider the iron- 
handed measures of the commanding general, 
which were designed to isolate the secessionists 
and render them innoxious. 

Crowds were forbidden to assemble, and pub- 
lic meetings, unless expressly authorized. The 
police were ordered to disperse all street- 
gatherings of a greater number of persons than 
three. 

In the sixth week of the occupation of the 
city, General Butler began the long series of 
measures, by which the sheep were separated 
from the goats ; by which the attitude of everj^ 
inhabitant of New Orleans toward the govern- 
ment of the United States was ascertained and 
recorded. The people might be politically divi- 
ded thus: Union men; rebels; foreigners friend- 
ly to the United States ; foreigners sympathizing 
with the Confederates ; soldiers from Beauregard's 
army inclined to submission ; soldiers from Beau- 
regard's army not inclined to submission. These 
soldiers, who numbered several thou.sands, were 
required to come forward and define their position, 
and either take the oath of allegiance, or surrender 
themselves prisouers of war: in which latter 



case, they would be admitted to parole until 
regularly exchanged, or if tlioy preferred it, re- 
main in confinement. In this way, the name 
standing, residence, and political sympathies of 
this concourse of men were placed on record, and 
the general was enabled to know where they 
were to be found, and what he had to expect 
from them in time of danger. 

His next step was to decree, that no authority 
of any kind should be exercised in New Orleans 
by traitors, and that no favors should be granted 
to traitors by the United States, except the 
mere protection from personal violence secured 
by the police. The following general order was 
designed to secure these objects : 

"New Okle.vns. June 10, 1862. 
" General Order No. 41. 

"The constitution and laws of the United 
States require that all military, civil, judicial, 
executive and legislative officers of the United 
States, and of the several states, shall take an 
oath to support the constitution and laws. If a 
person desires to serve the United States, or to 
receive special profit fi-om a protection from the 
United States, he should take upon himself^ the 
corresponding obligations. This oath will not 
be, as it has never been, forced upon any. It is 
too sacred an obligation, ic j exalted in its 
tenure, and brings with it too many benefits and 
privileges, to be profaned by unwilling lip ser- 
vice. It enables its recipient to say, 'I am an 
American citizen,' the highest title known, save 
that of him who can say with St. Paul, 'I was 
free born,' and have never renounced that free- 
dom. 

" Judges, justices, sheriffs, attorneys, notaries, 
and all officers of the law whatever, and all per- 
sons who have ever been, or who have ever 
claimed to be, citizens of the United States in 
this department, who therefore exercise any of- 
fice, hold any place of trust or calling whatever 
which calls for the doing of any legal act what- 
ever, or for the doing of any act, judicial or ad- 
ministrative, which shall or may affect any other 
person than the actor, must take and subscribe 
the following oath : ■ I do solemnly swear (or 
affirm) that I will bear true faith and ailegianco 
to the United States of America, and will sup- 
port the constitution thereofl' All acts, doingn, 
deeds, instruments, records or certificates, certi- 
fied or attested by, and transactions done, per- 
formed, or made by any of the persons above 
described, from and after the 15 th daj' of June 
insL, who shall not have taken and subscribed 
such oath, are void and of no efiect. 

" It having become necessary, in the judgment 
of the commanding general, as a ' public exi- 
gency,' to distinguish those who are well dis- 
posed toward the government of the United 
States, from those who still hold allegiance to 
the Confederate States, and ample time having 
been given to all citizens for reflection upon this 
subject, and full protection to person and prop- 
erty of every law-abiding citizen having been 
afforded, according to the terms of the proclama- 
tion of May 1st: 

" Be it farilier ordered, That all persons ever 
heretofore citizens of the United States, asking 
or receiving any favor, protection, privilege, 
passport, or to have money paid them, property, 
or other valuable thing whatever delivered to 



120 



THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 



them, or any benefit of the power of the United 
States extended to them, except protection from 
personal violence, must take and subscribe the 
oath above specified, before their request can be 
heard, or any act done iu their favor by any 
oflBcer of the United States within this depart- 
ment. And for this purpose all persons shall be 
deemed to have been citizens of the United 
States who shall have been residents therein for 
the space of five years and upward, and if foreign 
born, shall not have claimed and received a pro- 
tection of their government, duly signed and re- 
gistered by the proper officer, more than sixty 
days previous to the publication of this order. 

" It h&ving come to the knowledge of the 
commanding general that many persons resident 
within this department have heretofore been aid- 
ing rebellion by fiirnishing arms and munitions 
of war, running the blockade, giving iuformation, 
conceahng property, and abetting by otlier 
ways, the so-called Confederate States, in viola- 
tion of the laws of neutrality imposed upon them 
by their sovereigtis, as well as the laws of the 
United States, and that a less number are still so 
engaged ; it is therefore ordered, that all foreign- 
ers claiaiing any of the privileges of an Amer- 
ican citizen, or protection or favor from the 
government of the United States (except pro- 
tection from personal violenoe), shall previ- 
ously take and subscribe an oath .n the form fol- 
lowing : 

" I, , do solemnly swear, or affirm, 

that so long as my government remains at peace 
with the United States, I will do no act, or con- 
sent that any be done, or conceal any that has 
been or is about to be done, that shall be done, 
that shall aid or comfort any of the enemies or 
opposers of the United States whatever. 

"(Signed), 

"Subject of ." 

"At the City Hall, at tiie provost court, 
at the provost marshal's oflSce, and at the sev- 
eral police stations, books will be opened, and 
a proper officer will be present to adminis- 
ter the proper oaths to any person desiring 
to take the same, and to witness the subscrip- 
tion of the same by the party taking it. Such 
officer will furnish to each person so taking and 
subscribing, a certificate in form following : 

" Dehartmf.nt (IF the Giri.F, 
•' New Orleans, 1862. 

" has taken and subscribed the 

oath required by General Order No. 41, for a 

" (Signed), ." 

General orders issued at New Orleans usually 
produced considerable stir among the parties in- 
terested; but none of them caused so much ex- 
citement and such universal alarm as this. If 
the citizens were astounded, the foreigners were 
puzzled. No one was obliged to take the 
oath ; but what would happen to those who did 
not take it ? The office-holders, however, could 
entertain no doubts respecting their fate, and all 
of them who adhered still to the Richmond gov- 
ernment at once resigned their places. The resi- 
due of the city government was dissolved, and 
the military commandant reigned alone over 



New Orleans. One of the city officials, I ob- 
serve from divers documents, made a parting 
dive into the city treasury, but he was caught 
in the act, and compelled to let go his booty. 

Gen. Shepley immmdiately Lssued the following 
order : 

" So much of the executive power of the city 
as has heretofore been vested in the mayor, will, 
for the present, be exercised by the military 
commandant of New Orleans. 

" A ' bureau of finance' is hereby constituted, 
composed of a board of three persons, one of 
whom shall be the chairman of the board, to be 
appointed by the military commandant, with 
such clerks as may from time to time be found 
necessary, and may be appointed by the chair- 
man of the board, subject to the approval of the 
military commandant. The duties of said bu- 
reau shall ]oe the same as those which — under 
the act approved March 20, 1856, and ander 
other laws constituting the charter of the said 
city of New Orleans, and under the ordinances 
of tlie city now in force — have been attributed 
to the several committees on finance, fire, police^ 
jiidiciarj^ claims, education, and health, in the 
board of aldermen and in the board of assistant 
aldermen of the common council of New Ot- 
leans. The offices of said bureau ahaS'be im the 
City Hall. 

"A ' bureau of streets and landings,' consist- 
ing of three persons, one of whom shall be chair- 
man, is hcTeby constituted. The diuties of said 
bureau shall be the same whidi, under the char- 
ters, laws and ordinances of the city of New Or- 
leans, have been appropriated to the several 
committees on streets and landings, workhouses 
and prisons, and house of refuge, in the board 
of aldermen and board of assistant aldermen. 
The office of said bureau shall be in the City 
Hall, and the chairman shall appoint, subject to 
the approval of the military commandant, the 
necessaiy clerks, whose compensation will be 
fixed by the bureau, subject to the same ap- 
proval. 

" The following named persons will constitute 
the bureau of finance : E. H. Durell, chairman ; 
D. S. Dewees, Stoddart Howell. 

" The following named persons will constitute 
the bureau of streets and landings : Julian 
Neville, chairman ; Edward Ames, Benjamin 
Campbell. 

" By orden C. F. Shepley, 

"Military Commandant of New Orleans, 

" Approved and ordered. 

" B. P. Butler, 

The consuls, as usual, had something to say 
to the general upon the new topic. " If General 
Butler rides up Canal street," said the Delta, 
" the consuls are sure to come in a body, and 
■' protest' that he did not ride- doivn. If he 
smokes a pipe in the morning, he is sure to have 
a deputation in the evening, asking why he did 
not smoke a cigar. It he drinks coffee, they 
will send some rude messenger with a note ask- 
ing, in the name of some tottering dynasty, why 
he did not drink tea." The consuls did not 
gain much glory in this new contest with the 
general. He simply changed the form of the 
oath to that enjoined by the rebel authorities, 
against which no consul had protested. 

The oath-taking, meanwhile, went vigorously 



THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT&. 



121 



ou. On the 7th of August, Colonel French had 
the pleasure of reporting that the oath prescribed 
to citizens had been taken by 11,723 persons; 
the foreign neutrals' oath, by 2,499 persons ; and 
that 4,933 privates and 211 officers of the Con- 
federate army had given the required parole. 

This was the more gratifying from the fact, 
that the social influence of the city was all em- 
ployed against the taking of the oath. Ladies 
refused to receive gentlemen who were known 
to have taken it. Gentlemen were notified to 
leave their boarding-houses who had thus avowed 
their attachment to the Union. Books were 
kept, by noted secessionists, in which the names 
of such were recorded for future vengeance. 
Men who were accused of having taken the oath 
thought it necessary, in some instances, to resent 
the charge as a calumny." Others who bad re- 
cently taken it, boasted that they had done so 
only to secure the temporary advantages attached 
to the act, and avowed their readiness to take as 



* A perfectly well-informed oflBcer related the follow- 
ing incidents : 

" Holt's drinkins-saloon was one of the most fashion- 
able in the city. The proprietor, the son of tlie famous 
Now York hotel-keeper of that name, kept fast horses, 
a fashion.ible private residence, and received his income 
by the hundred dollars a day. In an evil hour secession 
seized upon the land, and Ilolt was induced to issue 
shinplasters. His reputation for wealth and business 
profits made them popular, and inducements were held 
out for immense issues. Gradually, however, business 
fell off, and Holt, when General Butler ordered that 
personal paper money should be redeemed by bank- 
notes, found it impossible to comply with the procla- 
mation, and tliis inability was increased by the fact that 
he had taken the oath of allegiance, and his reirular cus- 
tomers refused, therefore, to be comforted at his house. 
The finale was that Holt w.as snld out, and his establish- 
ment, repainted and restocked, opened un<ler the 
auspices of one Jolm Hawkins. To sive the place the 
due amount uf icUit, Captain Clark, of the Delia, know- 
ing that it was against the law for any one to sell liquor 
in the city, unless by a person who had taken the oath 
of allegiance and obtained a license, cause<l it to be pub- 
lished that at last our citizens were ble.<sed with a 
'Union drinking-saloon,' and at the same time invited 
all persons who loved the stars and stripes to patronize 
this new establishment. 

■'This flattering notice fell upon John Hawkins as a 
thunderbolt; he frantically rushed over to the news- 
paper office and protested that he was a rebel, and that 
he relied upon his secession friends for patronage ; he 
declared that he was a ruined man unless something 
was done to immediately purge his fair fame of any taint 
of loyalty to liis native land. Captain Clark, who fully 
appreciated the unfortunate publican's feelings, and 
with the spirit and liberality of a chivalrous editor, 
ofi'ered his columns for an e.xplnnaticn, which offer re- 
tulted in the publication of the following card : 

"Hawkins Housk. 

•* ' To the Editor of the New Orleans Delta : 

" ' The editorial statement in your journal of this morn- 
ing, to the effect that I have taken the oath of allegiance, 
is a fabrication. John Hawkins. 

"'New Orleans, July 17, 1S62.' 

"Secessia was delighted; John's friends crowded his 
precincts all day, and drank to John's health, and at 
Johu^ expenne. The d.iwn of tlie following morning 
promised a brilliant future ; but, ulas! Deputy [trovo^t- 
marshal. Colonel Stafford, whose bnsines.s it is to see 
that public diinking-honse keepers have taken the oath 
of allegiance, sent after Mr. Hawkins, and asked him 
what riffht he had to keep a shop open without license, 
and farther inquired if John did not know that he could 
not get a license unless he took oath to he a a:ood citi- 
zen under the national government. This interference 
on the part of General jiutler and his subordinates with 
the unalienable rights of Secessia has. of cour.ie, thrown 
a new brand of discord into the community, and the 
fearful catastrophe seems impending, that will compel 
the habitues of the fa.shionable drinking-saloons to have 
the slow poison dealt out by loyal citizens." 



many oaths as Picayune Butler thought it neces- 
sary to impose ; as no faith was to be kept with 
Yankees. All these things were noted by Gen- 
eral Butlor, who " bided his time." 

Another of the general's precautionary meas- 
ures, was the disarming of New Orleans. The 
city was fall of arms. Nearly every house, of 
any pretensions, contained some, and nearly 
every well-dressed man carried a weapon of 
some kind At first, the geueral had no inten- 
tion of depriving private persons of their arms, 
since he had assured the public, in his proclama- 
tion, that private property should be respected. 
Under the general order, commanding the dis- 
cloeare and surrender of Confederate property, a 
considerable quantity of arms and munitions of 
war were seized ; but the most virulent of the 
rebels were still allowed the inestimable privUege 
of carrying a pocketful of revolvers, and a bowie- 
knife parallel to the back-bone. The event which 
led to the universal disarming of the city was 
this: In August, on the bloody field of Baton 
Rouge, were found dead and wounded citizens of 
Baton Rouge, wearing still their usual arms, 
who, on the very evening before the attack, had 
mingled familiarly with the officers of the Union 
army, and who, on the approach of Breckinridge, 
had hastened to join his troops, and to engage 
in the conflict. Lieutenant Weitzel reported this 
significant fact to General Butler, who immediate- 
ly determined to compel the surrender of every 
private weapon in New Orleans. The requisite 
orders were i-ssued ; arms in great quantities 
were brought in and safely deposited ; for all 
of which receipts were given. 

The French consul objected, of course. His 
protest had only the efiect of adding one more lo 
Geueral Butler's amusing consular letters. 

GENERAL BUTLER TO THE FRENCH CONSUL. 
" HEAD-QtTARTERR, DrPARTMENT OP THE GULF, 

"New Orleans, August 14, 1862. 

" Sir : Your official note to Lieutenant Weitzel 
has been forwarded to me. 

"I see no just cause of complaint against the 
order requiring the arms of private citizens to he 
given up. It is tiie usual course pursued in 
cities similarly situated to this, even without any 
exterior force in the neigliborhood. 

" You will observe that it will not do to trust 
to mere professions of neutrality. I trust most 
of your countrymen are in good fdith 7ieutral ; but 
it is unfortunately true that some of them are 
not. This causes the good, of necessity, to suffer 
for the acts of the bad. 

" I lake leave to call your attention to the fact, 
'.hat the United States forces gave every ininiu- 
nity to Monsieur Bonnegra.ss, who claimed to 
be the French consul at Baton Rou^e ; allowed 
him to keep his arms, and relied upon his neu- 
trality ; but his son was taken prisoner on the 
battle-field in arms against us. 

" You will also do me the favor to remember 
that very few of the French subjects here have 
taken tiie oath of neutrality, which was offered to, 
but not required of them, by my Order No. 41, 
although all the officers of the French Legion 
had, with j'our knowledge and assent, taken the 
oath to support the constitution of the Con- 
federate States. Thus you see 1 have no guar- 
antee for the good faith of bad men. " I do not 



THE CONFISCATION ACT. 



understand how it is that arms are altered in 
their effectiveness by being ' personal property,' 
nor do I see how arras which will serve for per- 
sonal defense (' qui ne peuveut servir que pour 
leur defense personnelle'), can not be as efifec- 
tually used for offensive warfare. 

"Of the disquiet of which you say there are 
signs manifesting themselves among the black 
population, from a desire to break their bonds, 
-('certaines dispositions a ronipre les liens qui les 
attachent a leurs maitres'), 1 have been a not 
inattentive observer, without wonder, because it 
would seem natural, when their masters had set 
them the example of rebellion against constituted 
authorities, that the negroes, being an imitative 
race, should do likewise. 

" But surely the representative of the emperor, 
who does not tolerate slavery in France, does 
not desire his countrymen to be armed for the 
purpose of preventing the negroes from breaking 
their bonds. 

" Let me assure you that the protection of the 
United States against violence, either by negroes 
or white men, whether citizens or foreign, will 
continue to be as perfect as it has been since our 
advent here ; and far more so, manifesting itself 
at all moments and everywhere ('tous les in- 
stants et partout'), than any improvised citizens' 
organization can be. 

" Whenever the inhabitants of this city will, 
by a public and united act, show both their loy- 
alty and neutrality, I shall be glad of their aid 
to keep the peace, and indeed to restore the city 
to them. Till that time, however, I must require 
the arms of all the inhabitants, white and black, 
to be under my control I have the honor to 
■be, your obedient servant, 

Benj. F. Butler, Maj.-Gen. Com. 
■"To Count Mejan, French Consul." 

To secure the surrender of arms still secreted, 
the following stringent general order was issued: 

"New Okleans, August 16, 1862. 

" Ordered, That after Tuesday, 19th inst., 
there be paid for information leading to the dis- 
covery of weapons not held under a written per- 
<mit from the United States authorities, but 
retained and concealed by the keepers thereof, 
the sums following : 

For each serviceable gun, musket or rifle. . .$10 

" revolver 7 

" pistol 5 

" sabre or officer's sword 5 

" dirk, dagger, bowie-knife or sword- 
cane 3 

" Said arms to be confiscated, and the keeper 
so concealing them to be punished by imprison- 
ment. 

" The crime being an overt act of rebellion 
against the authority of the United States, 
whether by a citizen or an alien, works a for- 
feiture of the property of the offender, and, there- 
fore, every slave giving information that shall 
discover the concealed arms of his or her master, 
shall be held to be emancipated. 

" II. As the United Stales authorities have 
disarmed the inhabitants of the parish of Orleans, 
and as some fearful citizens seem to think it 
necessary that tliey should have arms to protect 
themselves from violence, it is ordered, 



" That hereafter, the offenses of robbery by 
violence or aggravated assault that ought to be 
repelled by the use of deadly weapons, burglaries, 
rapes and murders, whether committed by blacks 
or whites, will be, on conviction, punished by 
death." 

Union men, known and tried, were permitted 
to keep their arms. To one or two old soldiers 
of the war of 1812, the privilege was accorded 
of retaining the weapons once honorably borne 
in the service of their country. Many weapons 
were, doubtless, still secreted ; but, for all pur- 
poses of co-operation with an attacking force, 
New Orleans was disarmed. The whole number 
of surrendered weapons was about six thousand. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CONFISCATION ACT. 

The act of Congress confiscating the property 
of rebellious citizens was approved July Hth. 

Before the passage of the act. General Butler 
had taken the liberty to " sequester" the estates 
of those two notorious traitors, General Twiggs 
and John Slidell, both of whom possessed large 
property in New Orleans. These estates he held 
for the adjudication of the government, and, in 
the meantime, selected the spacious mansion of 
General Twiggs for his own residence and thai 
of a portion of his staff. Among the papers 
found in his house were certain letters which 
tended to show that Twiggs had sought the 
command in Texas with a view to the betrayal 
of his trust, a crime only once paralleled in the 
history of the country. Twiggs fled from New 
Orleans on the approach of the fleet, conscious 
that such turpitude as his could not fail to meet 
its just retribution. He died soon after, but not 
before he had heard that the flag of his betrayed 
country floated over his residence as the head- 
quarters of the army of occupation. 

Three swords, presented to him for his gal- 
lautr}' in Mexico, one by Congress, one by the 
state of Georgia, his native state, one by Augusta, 
his native city, were left behind in the custody 
of a young lady, and fell into the hands of 
General Butler. The young lady claimed them 
as her own. She said that General Twiggs had 
given them to her on new-year's day, with a box 
of family silver, alleging as a reason for this 
strange gift the recent death of a beloved niece 
to whom he had previously bequeathed them. 
Three facts were elicitea which induced the 
general to set aside he: elann. One was, that 
Twiggs had brought the articles to the young- 
lady's residence, not on new-year's day, but at 
the moment of his flight from the city. Another 
was, that slie had never mentioned so extra- 
ordinary a present to any member of her family — 
as appeared on the separate examination of 
each. Another was, tliat General Twiggs had 
left with the articles the document following: 
"I leave my swords to Miss Rovvena Florence, 
and box of silver. New Orleans, April 25, 1862. 
D. E. TvviGGS:" which was hastily written in 
the carriage at the door. 

General Butler yen*'. "ed to disbelieve Miss 
Rowena Florence, and "ent the swords to the 



THE CONFISCATION ACT. 



123 



president of the United States. He suggesled 
that the one presented by congress, should be 
given to some officer distinguished in the war ; 
that the one given by the state of Georgia, should 
be deposited at the military academy at West 
Point, with a suitable inscription, as a warning 
to the cadets ; and that the third should be placed 
iu the patent office as a memento of the folly of 
such an "invention" as secession. In forward- 
ing the swords to congress, the president re- 
marked, that if either of them were presented to 
an oflQcer of the army, " General Butler is enti- 
tled to the first consideration. 

The sword voted by Kentucky to General 
Zachary Taylor, was rescued by General Builer 
from disloyal hands in New Orleans. He sent 
it to the son of the Uite president — Brigadier- 
General Joseph Taylor of the Union army. 

The confiscation act, it will be remembered, 
divided rebels into two classes. The property 
of one class was to be confiscated at once, or as 
soon as it fell into the possession of the United 
States ; the property of the other class was to be 
confiscated after sixty days' warning. The first 
class consisted of all military and naval officers 
commanding rebels in arms ; the president, vice- 
president, judges, members of congress, cabinet 
ministers, foreign emissaries, and other agents of 
the Confederate States ; the governors and judges 
of seceded states ; in short, all who hold office 
under the Confederate government, or under the 
government of a seceded state, as well as citizens 
of loyal states who gave aid and comfort to the 
rebellion. The second class included the great 
mass of the privates in the Confederate army and 
navy, and all unofficial abettors of the rebellion. 
The property of these last was to be declared 
confiscated sixty days after the date of the presi- 
dent's proclamation warning them to lay down 
their arms and return to their allegiance. As 
this proclamation was issued on the 25th of July, 
the days of grace expired on the 23d of September. 
With this explanation, the reader will under- 
ttand the object of the following general order, 
and will be able to imagine its effect upon the 
secessionists of New Orleans : 

New Orleans, Sept. 13, 1S62. 

" Aa in the course of ten days it may become 
necessary to distinguish the disloyal from the 
loyal citizens and honest neutral foreigners re- 
fiiding iu this department: 

"/i! is ordtred, That each neutral foreigner, 
resident in this department, shall present himself, 
with the evidence of his nationality, to the near- 
est provost-marshal for registration of himself and 
his family. 

" This registration shall include the following 
particulars ; 

"The country of birth. 

" The length of time the person has resided 
•within the United States. 

"The names of his family. 

" The present place of residence, by street, 
number or other description. 

" The occupation. 

■' The date of protection or certificate of nation- 
ality, which shall be indorsed by the passport- 
clerk, ' registered ' with date of register. 

"All false or simulated claims of foreign alle- 
giance, by native or naturalized citizens, will be 
fieverely puuished." 



This premonition of coming retribution called 
attention anew to the clause of the confiscation 
act which declared all conveyances of property 
made after the expiration of the sixty days to be 
void. Instantly there began such a universal 
transferring of property as no city had ever be- 
fore seen. Property was given away ; property 
was sold for next to nothing ; all the known ex- 
pedients for getting rid of property were em- 
ployed ; until it seemed probable that by the 23d 
of September, not a rebel in New Orleans would 
be found to possess anything whatever, and the 
entire wealth of the city would be held by that 
portion of the people who had taken the oath of 
allegiance, or by parties at a great distance, and 
inacces.tible, or by minors and women. General 
Butler determined to use his autocratic authority 
to put a stop to these fictitious transfers. The 
following general order accomplished this pur- 
pose. 

New Orleans. Sept. 1862. 

" I. All transfers of property, or rights of 
property, real, mixed, personal or incorporeal, 
except necessary food, medicine and clothing, 
either by way of sale, gift, pledge, payment, 
lease or loan, by an inhabitant of tliis depart- 
ment, who has not returned to his or her alle- 
giance, to the United States (having once been a 
citizen thereof), are forbidden and void, and the 
person transferring and the person receiving shall 
be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both. 

" II. All registers of the transfer of certificates 
of stock or shares in any incorporated or joint-stock 
company or association, in which any inhabitant 
of this department, who has not returned to his 
or her allegiance to the United States (having 
once been a citizen thereof), has any interest, 
are forbidden, and the clerk or other officer mak- 
ing or recording tiie transfer will be held equally 
guilty with the transferer." 

And more. Some wise men of New Orleans, 
foreseeing the evil, had long ago reduced them- 
selves to fictitious beggary. The decisions of Mr. 
Reverdy Johnson, sustained by the government, 
had given rise to the impression that papers made 
out in the forms of law, would be permitted to 
nullify an act of Congress, as well as .set at 
naught the decrees of General Butler. Many 
men' of wealth had acted upon thi.s impre-ssion, 
" making over " valuable estates to others, for 
considerations that were ridiculously small. 
General Butler seized and " sequestered '' some 
property thus transferred, holding it for the gov- 
ernment to decide upon the legality of such pro- 
ceedings. One noted case of this kind he selected 
as a test, and submitted it to the .secretary of 
stale. The dispatch in which the particulars 
were detailed, shall be presented here, for the 
light it throws upon the state of things in New 
Orleans and the peculiar difficulties of General 
Butler's position. * It is fair to (juess that this 
dispatch had something to do with General But- 
ler's recall from the Department of the Gulf — a 
measure which was not suggested by the presi- 
dent. 

GENERAL BUTLER TO MR. SEWARD. 

" Hkad-quautkrs, Department of the Gulf, 
" Nkw Oklkan.s, Septemler 19, 1S62. 

" Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State; 
" Sir; — I have the honor to report to you the 
following facts : 



124 



THE CONFISCATION ACT. 



" C. McDonald Fago, a British subject, resi- 
dent many years in New Orleans, is about to 
make claim to the property of "Wright & Allen 
in New Orleans, which has been taken posses- 
sion of by the United States authorities here un- 
der the following state of facts : 

"Wright & Allen are cotton-brokers, who 
claim to have properly outside of New Orleans 
of two millions of dollars. They are most rabid 
rebels, and were of those who published a card 
advising the planters not to send forward their 
crop of cotton for the purpose of inducmg foreign 
intervention. 

" Soon after we came to New Orleans, they 
mortgaged their real estate here, consisting of a 
house, for $60,000, to planters in the State of 
Arkansas, and then sold the equity, together 
with their furniture, for $5,000 to Mr. Fago: 
paying about four thousand five hundred dollars 
per annum interest on the property, and to 
receive nothing. His onlj' payment, however, 
was by his own note in twelve months, which 
was sent to their friend, the planter in Arkansas. 

" "Wright & Allen were then openly boasting 
that they would not take the oath of allegiance 
to the United States, and were encouraging 
others to refuse and stand by secession. In 
order to divest themselv-es of the last vestige of 
visible property upon which the confiscation act 
could take effect, having given to the widow of 
their deceased partner, an Irish woman, a note 
or notes for three thousand five hundred dollars, 
they then sell her their plate for that amount, 
and then have it shipped under another name to 
Liverpool. 

" A large number of others are following their 
example ; and, indeed, all the property of New 
Orleans is changing hands into those of foreign- 
ers and women, to avoid the consequences of the 
confiscation act. 

"Believing all this to be deplorable, I have 
resolved to make this a test case, and have seized 
this property, and intend to hold it where it is 
until the matter can be submitted to the courts. 

" Mr. Fago has sent to Washington to have 
this property given up as a test case. If the 
course of authority here is interfered with in this 
case, it will be next to impossible to maintain 
order in this city. This Mr. Fago has first had 
a large amount of sugar, belonging to an aid of 
Governor Moore, given up to him by the deci- 
sion of Reverdy Johnson. Emboldened by this 
experiment he proposes to try once more. If 
successful, I should prefer that the government 
would get some one else to hold New Orleans 
instead of myself Indeed, sir, I beg leave to 
add, that another such commissioner as Mr. 
Johnson sent to New Orleans would render the 
city untenable. The town itself got into such a 
state while Mr. Johnson was liere, that he con- 
fessed to me that he could ^hardly sleep from 
nervousness from fear of a rising, and hurried 
away, hardly completing his work, as soon as he 
heard Baton Rouge was about to be attacked. 

" The result of his mission here has caused it 
to be understood that I am not supported by the 
government ; that I am soon to be relieved ; 
that all my acts are to be overhauled, and that a 
rebel may do anything he pleases in the city, as 
the worst may be a few days' imprisonment, 
when my successor will come and he will be 
released. 



" To such an extent has this thing gone, that 
inmates of the parish prison, sent there for grand 
larceny, robbery, &c., in humble imitation of th& 
foreign consuls, have agreed together to send an 
agent to Washington to ask for a commissioner 
to investigate charges made by these thieves 
against the provost-marshal, by whose vigilance 
they were detected. 

" Alexander the coppersmith, by his cry, 
'Great is Diana of the Ephesians' ('the institu- 
tion of slavery is in danger'), did me much harm 
in Louisiana, from the effects of which I am just 
recovering; and the only fear I now have is, 
that if the last accounts are true, Mr. Johnson 
will have so much more nervous apprehension 
for his personal safety in Baltimore than he had 
in New Orleans, that he will want to comeback 
here, now the yellow fever season is over, as to 
a place of security.* 

" I have done myself the honor to make thia 
detail of the case at length to the state depart- 
ment, so that all the facts are before it upon 
which I act. The inferences from those facts 
must, from the nature of testimony, be left to my 
judgment until the courts can act authoritatively 
in the matter. 

" Another reason whyl have detailed the fiicts 
is, that in the reports of Mr. Johnson furnished 
to the consuls to be read here, every fact is re- 
pressed which would form a shadow of justifica- 
tion for my acts, and ex parte affidavits of par- 
ties accused by me of fraudulent transfers of 
large amounts of property are the sole basis of 
the report. 

" True, by that report more than three-quar- 
ters of a million of specie is placed in the hands 
of one Forstall, a rebel, a leading member of the 
'Southern Independent Association,' a league 
wherein each member bound himself by a horrid 
and impious oath ' to resist unto death itself all 
attempts to restore the Union.' A confrere of 
Pierre Soul4 in the committee of the city which 
destroyed more than ten millions of property by 
fire, to prevent its coming into the hands of the 
United States authorities, when the fleet passed 
the forts. 

" I beg of you, sir, to consider that I mention 
the characteristics of this report not in any tone 
of complaint of the state department. If it is ne- 
cessary to suppress facts, to impugn the' motives 
and disown the acts of a commanding ofiicer of 
the army in the field, or to publish to those 
plotting the destruction of the republic, that he 
has had control of public affairs in New Orleans 
taken from him and transferred to a subordinate, 
because of the harshness of his administration, as 
was done in the dispatch to the minister of the 
Netherlands, even if the fact is not true, 1 bow 
to the mandate of ' state necessity ' withoni a 
murmur. I have made larger siicrifice.« than this 
for my country, and am prepared for still greater, 
if need be, but I only wish to make tlieui when 
they will be useful, and therefore have painted 
the effect of the commission, report, and dis- 
patch upon a turbulent, rebellious, uneasy, ex- 
citable, vindictive, brutalized, half ibreitrn popu- 
lation, maddened by exaggerated reports of the 
actions of their fellows, the fall of the national 
capital, the invasion of the North, and excited 
to insubordination by the double hope, that 

* The rebel aruiy was then ia Maryland. 



THE CONFISCATION ACT. 



12.: 



■ciiLci' by Llie .-jiijcess of the arms of their breth- 
ren, or tlio interference of the national executive 
in their behalf, Lhey shall soon be released from 
the only government which has ever held the 
city in quiet order, or unplundering peace. 
Awaiting instructions, 

" I have the honor to be, 

" Toui- obedient servant, 

" Benjamin F. Butler, 

Maj.-Gen. Comd'g. 

This letter clearly marks the point of diver- 
gence between the two modes of dealing with the 
rebellion. As the reports of Mr. Johnson and 
the correspondence of Mr. Seward with Mr. Van 
Limburgh have been published, it is but fair 
that this dispatch should be also printed. Whe- 
ther the confiscation act was a politic or an im- 
politic measure is a question upon which honest 
and patriotic men may differ — do differ. But 
the act having been passed and approved, there 
can be no doubt that the duty of commanding 
generals was to give it real effect — not allow the 
government to be defrauded by the hasty manu- 
tacture of fictitious legal papers. 

General Butler continued his preparations for 
enforcing the confiscation act. The day after the 
expiration of the sixty days' grace, the following 
general order was issued : 

"New Orleans, Septemher 24, 1862. 

" All persons, male or female, within this de- | 
partment, of the age of eighteen years and up- 
ward, who have ever been citizens of the United 
States, and have not renewed their allegiance | 
■before this date to the United States, or who 
now hold or pretend any allegiance or sympathy 
with the so-called Confederate States, are ordered 
to report themselves, on or before the first day 
of October next, to the nearest provost-marshal, 
with a descriptive fist of all their property and 
■rights of propert}', both real, personal and mixed, 
made out and signed by themselves respectively, 
with the same particularity as for taxation. 
They shall also report their place of residence by 
number, street, or other proper description, and 
their occupation, which registry shall be signed 
by themselves, and each shall receive a certifi- 
cate from the mar:<hal of registration as claiming 
to be an enemy of the United States. 

" Any persons, of those described in this order, 
neglecting so to register themselves, shall be sub- 
ject to fine, or imprisonment at hard labor, or 
both, and all his or her propert}' confiscated, by 
order, as punishment for such neglect. 

" On the first day of October next, every 
householder shall return to the provosl-marshal 
nearest him, a list of each inmate in his or her 
house, of the age of eighteen years or upward, 
which list shall contain the following par- 
ticulars : The name, sex, age and occupation of 
each inmate, whether a registered alien, one 
who has taken the oath of allegiance to the 
United States, a registered enemy of the United 
Stales, or one who has neglected to register him- 
self or herself, either as an alien, a loyal citizen, 
•or a registered enemy. All householders neg- 
lecting to make such returns, or making a false 
return, shall be punished by fine, or imprison- 
.meut with hard labor, or both. 

"Each policeman will, within his beat, be 



held responsible that every householder faDing 
to make such return, within three days from the 
first of October, is reported to the provost mar- 
shal ; and five dollars for such neglect, for every 
day in which it is not reported, will be deducted 
from such policeman's pay, and he shall be dis- 
missed. And a like sum for conviction of any 
householder not making his or her return shall 
be paid to the policeman reporting such house- 
holder. 

" Every person who shall, in good faith, renew 
his or her allegiance to the United States pre- 
vious to the first day of October next, and shall 
remain truly loyal, will be recommended to 
the president for pardon of his or her previous 
offenses.'' 

This order led to a run on the oath otfices. 
It was " understood" among the secessionists 
that an oath given to Yankees for the purpose 
of retaining property was a mere form of words 
not binding upon the consciences of the chivalric 
sons of the South. A very large number of per- 
sons, it is thought, acted upon this opinion ; for 
while the offices appointed for receiving the 
oaths were thronged and surrounded by eager 
multitudes of oath-takers, the number of •' regis- 
tered enemies" was less than four thousand. 
"People," said the Delta, " who take the oath of 
allegiance, and afterward say, with a sneer, ' it 
did not go farther than there' (pointing to their 
throat), should bear in mind that if it is kept in 
that position, and they conduct themselves ac- 
cordingly, there is great danger of its choking 
them some fine morning." 

Before General Butler left the department, 
sixty thousand of its inhabitants had taken the 
oath of allegiance to the government of the 
United States. 

The rebel General Jeft". Thompson, who was 
in command near the Union lines, contrived to 
get in a word on this subject : 

"PoNotiATOtJLA., La., September T.Bi'bi, 
" Sunday, 8 oclock a.m. 
'• Maj.-Gen. Butler, U. S. A., New Orleans, La : 
" [Per Underground Telegraph.] 
" General : — We thank you for General Or- 
der No. 76. It will answer us for a precedent 
at New Orleans, St. Louis. Louisville, Baltimore, 
Washington, each of which we will have in a 
few days. We were undetermined how to act. 
Please ' pile it on.' 

" Yours respectfully, 

"Jefferson Thompson, 
"■ Brig.- Gen. G. S., comd'g Southern Line." 

If the general could regard this epistle as a 
joke, there were other correspondents whose 
communications caused him i-eal distress. The 
venerable and benevolent Dr. Mercer, for ex- 
ample, a gentleman for whom General Butler, in 
common with the whole army, entertained the 
most sincere respect, addressed him upon the 
subject of General Order No. 76. 

" You have probably inferred, from our vari- 
ous conversations, that I have not taken an oath 
of allegiance to the Confederate States, nor have 
been a member of any society or public body in 
New Orleans, or elsewhere in the confederacy • 
and that since your arrival here, I have main 



i26 



MORE OF THE IRON HAlSU. 



tained a strict neutrality. In pursuance with 
your Order No. 76, I will make a faithful return, 
substantially, if not minutely accurate, of all 
my ijroperty here, except about ,$3,000, the 
greater part of which is hi gold, that I have re- 
served for an einergenc}-. I mention this to you 
now to avoid misapprehension. Your order re- 
ferred to exempts only those who have taken 
the oath of allegiance ; but I can not think j'ou 
intend to include those in my situation as claim- 
ing to be 'enemies of the United States.' Such 
an interpretation is, in my opinion, at variance 
with the act of congress, as well as with the pro- 
clamation of President Lincoln." 

General Butler replied: 

" In my judgment, there can be no such thing 
as neutrality by a citizen of the United States in 
this contest for the life of the government. As 
an officer, I cannot recognize such neutrality. 
" He that is not for us is against us.' 

"All good citizens are called upon to lend 
their influence to the United States; all that do 
not do so, are the enemies of the United States ; 
the line is to be distinctly and broadly drawn. 
Every citizen must find himself on one side or 
the other of that line, and can claim no other po- 
sition than that of a friend or an enemy of the 
United States. 

" While I am sorry to be obliged to differ from 
you in your construction of the act of congress 
and the proclamation of the president, I cannot 
permit any reservation of property from the list, 
or exemption of persons fi'om the requirement of 
Order No. 76. It may be, and, I trust, is quite 
true, that by no act of yours have you rendered 
yourself liable to the confiscation of your prop- 
erty under the act and proclamation ; but that 
is for the military or other courts (to decide). 
Tou, however, will advise yourself, with your 
usual care and caution, what may be the efi'ect, 
now that you are solemnly called upon to declare 
yourself in favor of the government, of contu- 
maciously refusing to renew your allegiance to 
it, thereby inducing, from your example, others 
of your fellow-citizens to remain in the same op- 
position. I am glad to acknowledge your long 
and upright life as a man, yonv former services 
as an officer of the government, and the high 
respect I entertain for your personal character 
and moral wortii ; but I am deahug with your 
duty as a citizen of the United States. All 
these noble qualities, as well as your high social 
condition, render your example all the more in- 
fluential and pernicious: and, I grieve to add, 
in my opinion, more dangerous to the interests 
of tiie United States, than if, a younger man, 
you had shouldered your musket and marched 
to the field in the army of rebellion.'' 

Dr. Mercer was therefore, compelled to choose 
a position on one side or the other of the " broad 
line." He did not take the oath of allegiance, 
but preferred to enroll himself among the regis- 
tered enemies of his country. After the de- 
parture of General Butler, he" escaped to New 
York, where he has siuce resided. 

General Butler proceeded in the work recom- 
mended by Jeff. Thompson, of "piling it on," 
taking the material from the " piles" of the 
friends and comrades of that humorous officer. 
Another of his raking general orders appeared 
in October, which sensibly reduced the income 
of many conspicuous abettors of the rebellion : 



"New Orleans, October 17, ISGlf 
" All persons holding powers of attorney or 
letters of authorization from, or who are merolv 
acting for, or tenants of, or intrusted with any 
moneys, goods, wares, property or merchandise, 
real, personal or mixed, of any person now in the 
service of the so-called Confederate States, or 
any person not known by such agent, tenant or 
trustee to be a loyal citizen of the United States, 
or a bona fide neutral subject of a foreign govern- 
ment, will retain in their own hand, until farther 
orders, all such moneys, goods, wares, mer- 
chandise and property, and make an accurate 
return of the same to David C. G. Field, Esq^ 
the financial clerk ofthis department, upon oath, 
on or before the first day of November aexi. 
Ever}' such agent, tenant or trustee failing to 
make true return, or who shall pay over or deliver 
any such moneys, goods, wares, merchandise and 
property to, or for the use, directly or indirectly, 
of any person not known by him to be a loyal 
citizen of the United States, without an order 
from these head-quarters, will be held personally 
responsible for the amount so neglected to be 
returned, paid over or delivered. All rents due 
or to become due by tenants of property belong- 
ing to persons not known to be loyal citizens of 
the United States, will be paid as they become 
due, to D. C. G. Field, Esq., financial clerk of the 
department." 

To complete the reader's knowledge of this 
subject, it is only necessary to add that, early in 
December, all registered enemies who desired to 
leave New Orleans, not to return, were permitted 
to do so. Several hundreds availed themselves 
of this perniission, much to the relief of the party 
for the Union. 

It was these stern and rigorously executed 
measures which completed the subjugation of the 
secessionists of New Orleans, and deprived them 
of all power tc co-operate with treason beyond 
the Union lines. It was these measures which 
alone could have prepared the way for the 
sincere return of Louisiana to the Union, the 
first requisite to which was tlic supprestsion of 
the small party which had traitorously taken tlie 
state out of the Union. To complete the regene- 
ration of the state, it was necessaiy to foster the 
self-respect, protect the interests, maintain the 
rights, and raise in the scale of civilization that 
vast majority of the people of Louisiana, while 
and black, bond and free, whose interests and 
the interests of the United States are identical. 
This great and difficult work Gei'^ral Butler was 
permitted only to begin. The backwoodsman 
was called from his fields when the forests had 
been cleared, the swamps drained, the noxious 
creatures driven away, and all the- rough, wild 
work done. There would have been a harvest 
in the following year, if the same energetic and 
fertile mind had continued to wield the resource.^* 
of the land. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MORE OF THE IBON HAITD 

Certaix of the Episcopal clergy of New 
Orleans felt the rigor of General Butler's rule. 
The clergy of New Orleans were secession Ist.-;, 



MOEE OF THE IRON HAND. 



12T 



of course. Auy Christian minister capable of 
voluntarily living in the South during the last 
twent}- years, or any one wlio was permitted to 
live there, must have been a person prepared to 
forsake all and follow slavery. This was the 
condition of their exercising the clerical office in 
the cotton kingdom, and when the time came 
they complied with that condition. 

One " eminent divine" of New Orleans, it is 
said, was heard to remark, that strong as was his 
belief in special providential dispensations, that 
faith would receive a severe, perhaps a fatal 
shock, if the yellow fever did not become epi- 
demic in New Orleans that summer. 

When the confiscation act was about to be 
enlbrced. General Butler had a controversy with 
Dr. Leacock, the Episcopal clergyman who 
promised to read the burial service over Lieu- 
tenant De Kay, and broke his promise. This 
gentleman was of English birth, but had long- 
resided in New Orleans, and, I believe, had 
become a citizen of the United States; at least, 
he expressly disclaimed the protection of British 
law. Dr. Leacock, it appears, now desired ex- 
emption from the decrees which tended to 
separate the friends from the enemies of the 
Union, and which denied all favor and privileges 
to those who openly adiiered to the Confederate 
cause. He claimed to be a friend of the Union — 
in fact, a Union man. StiU, he was not prepared 
to take the oatli of allegiance. Now, this 
man, in November, 1860, had preached a ser- 
mon in favor of secession, which so exactly 
chimed in with the feelings of the secessionists, 
that four editions of it were printed and sold, to 
the number of 30,000 copies. The sermon was 
the usual silly tirade against "the abolitionists," 
" the savage fanatics of the North," the deadly 
enemies of a noble southern chivalry. It con- 
tained, also, the regulation paragraphs upon 
John Brown and his " band of assassins," and 
the '' infidel preachers" who had " stimulated" 
them to fall upon a poor, innocent, unsu.spect- 
ing, persecuted, patient, long-sufiering southern 
peoplf. The concluding paragraph of this ser- 
mon was the following : 

'• Now, in justice to myselfj I must be per- 
mitted to make a remark before 1 close. But a 
few weeks ago 1 counseled you, from this place, 
to avoid all precipitate action ; but at the same 
lime to take determined action — such action 
only as you thought you could take with the 
<x)nscious support of reason and religion. I give 
that counsel still. But I am one of you. 1 leel 
;i£ a soutlierner. Southern honor is my honor — 
southern degradation is my degradation. Let 
no man mistake my moaning or call my words 
idle. As a southerner, tlien, I will speak, and 1 
give it as my firm and uniiesitating behelj that 
nothing is now left us but secession. 1 do not 
like tiie word, but it is the only one to express 
my meaning. "We do not secede — our enemies 
have seceded. We are on the constitution — our 
enemies are not on the constitution ; and our 
language should be, if you will not go with us, 
we will not go with you. You may form for 
yourselves a constitution ; but we will administer 
among ourselves the constitution which our 
iiithers have left us. This should be our lan- 
guage and solemn determination. Such action 
our honor demands ; such action will saye the 
Union, if anything can. We have yet friends 



left us in the North, but they cannot act for us 
till we have acted for ourselves ; and it would 
be as pusillanimous in us to desert our frienda 
as to cower before our enemies. To advance, is 
10 secure our rights ; to recede, is to lay our 
fortunes, our honor, our liberty, under the feet of 
our enemies. I know that the consequences of 
such a course, unless guided by discretion, are 
perilous. But, peril our fortunes, peril our lives, 
come what will, let us never peril our liberty 
and our honor. I am willing, at the call of mj- 
honor and my liberty, to die a freeman ; but I'll 
never, no never, live a slave ; and the alternative 
now presented by our enemies is secession or 
slavery. Let it be liberty or death 1" 

General Butler ventured to adduce this sermon 
as evidence of its author's enmity to the Union. 
Dr. Leacock's reply revealed an astounding moral 
obliquity : 

" I have not the sermon in manuscript to 
which, in your note of yesterday, you refer. It 
was taken down during its delivery by a reporter 
unknown to me, but, being called away from the 
church before it was concluded, he requested the 
manuscript, that he might not, as he said, give a 
wrong report of my views. It was given, but 
never returned. I send, however, a printed copy of 
it with this remark; that the last section, which 
I have circumscribed in pencil, was not delivered 
from the pulpit, as my whole congregation can 
testify ; and that the pubhsher was immediately 
required by me, in the presence of several gen- 
tlemen, to state this fact, that it might be omitted 
in any future publication. 

" There is no man that desires more heartily 
than myself the restoration of this Union, as it 
was before the present controversy arose. In 
evidence of this tiact, I send you another sermon, 
which was delivered a few weeks after the one 
in print ; and as you will find great difficulty in 
reading it, I will transcribe the closing paragraph, 
to which 1 desire to refer you, as expressive of 
what I felt then, and of what I feel now. 

" ' The destruction of our Union 1 Oh, there 
is not a spot on the civihzed globe that would 
not lament the destruction of our Union. The 
wail with which the lathers in Egypt pierced the 
air on the death of their first-born, is ready to 
burst foith from our bosoms if this dire event 
should happen." 

General Butler, not desu-ing farther correspon- 
dence with this reverend person, caused Captain 
Puffer to ask him whether he had published any 
recantation or disavowal of the secession para- 
graph of his sermon, or whether any one else had 
done so for him. He rephed; " I do not know. 
I only know that I requested the reporter, both 
in person and by letter, to omit the last para- 
graph, because I did not give utterance to it." 
It thus appeared that this Union man had stood 
by and seen tens of thousands of copies of a ser- 
mon advising the dismemberment of the Union, 
and had enjoyed the popularity attached to the 
utterance of such advice, without deeming it 
worth while to inform the public that the pas- 
sage had never been delivered, and did not ex- 
press his mature opinion. Those who can believe 
in such Unionism may also be able to believe 
that the sermon quoted in the doctor's letter was 
delivered after the pubhshed one, which ever^ 
man in his congregation must have read. 



128 



MORE OF THE IRON HAND. 



A few days after, an event occurred which 
brought General Butler into such direct collision 
with the Episcopal clergy, that New Orleans was 
not considered b^' the general ■ large enough to 
■contain both parties in the coutroversy. 

On a Sunday morning, early in October, Major 
Strong entered the office of the general in plain 
clothes, and said : 

" I haven't been able to go to church since we 
came to New Orleans. This morning I am 
going." 

He crossed the street, and took a front seat in 
the Episcopal church of Dr. Goodrich, opposite 
the mansion of General Twiggs. He joined in 
the exercises with the earnestness which was 
natural to his devout mind, until the clergyman 
reached that part of the service where the prayer 
for the president of the United States occurs. 
That prayer was omitted, and the minister in- 
vited the congregation to spend a few moments 
in silent prayer. The young officer had not 
previously heard of this Mode of evading, at 
once, the requirements of the church, and the 
orders of the commanding general. He rose in 
his place and said : 

" Stop, sir. It is my duty to bring these ex- 
ercises to a close. I came here for the purpose, 
and the sole purpose, of worshiping God; but 
inasmuch as your minister has seen fit to omit 
invoking a blessing, as our church service re- 
quires, upon the president of the United States, 
I propose to close the services. This house will 
be shut within ten minutes." 

The clergyman, astounded, began to remon- 
strate. 

"This is no time for discussion, sir," said the 
.major. 

The minister was speechless and indignant. 
The ladies flashed wrath upon the officer, who 
stood motionless with folded arms. The men 
scowled at him. The minister soon pronounced 
the benediction, the congregation dispersed, and 
Major Strong retired to report the circumstances 
at head-quarters. 

This brought the matter to. a crisis. General 
Butler sent for the Episcopal clergymen. Dr. 
Leacock, Dr. Goodrich, Dr. Fulton, and otiiers, 
wlio were all accustomed to omit the prayer for 
the president, and pray in silence for the triumph 
ot treason. The general patiently and courteous- 
ly argued the point with ihem at great length, 
quoting Bible, rubrics and history with his 
wonted fluency. They replied that, in omitting 
the prayer, they were only obeying the orders 
of tiie Right Reverend Major-General Polk, their 
ecclesiastical superior. The general denied the 
authority of that military prelate to change the 
liturgy, and contended that the omission of the 
prayer, in the peculiar circumstances of the time 
and place, was an overt act of treason. Obedience 
to the powers that be, he said, was the poeuhar 
aim and boast of the Episcopal church;' and no 
one could doubt that the dominant power in 
New Orleans was the president of the United 
States. And even granting that the president 
was a usurper, that would be only one reason 
more for praying for him. The Union forces liad 
uot^ome to New Orleans lor a temporary pur- 
pose ; they meant to stay. There wm no power 
on the continent or off the continent that could 
expel thoin. This praying ibr Davis must stop 
at some iime; why not now? Besides, the 



clergy of the Episcopal church had taken upon 
themselves the most solemn vows to obey the 
canons and rubrics of the church, and their omis- 
sion of part of the hturgy was of the nature of 
perjury. 

" But, General," said Dr. Leacock, " your in- 
sisting upon the taking of the oath of allegiance 
is causing half of mj' church-members to perjure 
themselves." 

"Well," replied the general, " if that is the re- 
sult of }our nine years' preaching ; if your people 
will commit perjury so freely, the sooner you 
leave your pulpit the better." 

After further conversation, Dr. Leacock asked : 
" Well, General, are you going to shut up the 
churches?" 

" No, sir, I am more likely to shut up the 
ministers." 

The clergymen showing no disposition to yield, 
General Butler ended the interview by stating 
his ultimatum : " Read the prayer for the presi- 
dent, omit the silent act of devotion, or leave 
New Orleans prisoners of state for Fort Lafay- 
ette." 

After consultation with one another and with 
their people, after endless vacillation on the part 
of Dr. Leacock, three of the clergymen, Dr. Lea- 
cock, Dr. Goodrich and Mr. Fulton, decided not 
to read the prayer for the president. Captain 
Puffer was detailed to conduct them to New 
York, and they sailed in the next transport. On 
the voyage, Captain Puffer informs me. Dr. 
Goodrich, a benevolent, venerable man. read 
prayers to the returning troops, and did not omit 
the prayer for the president. He ministered to 
the sick and dying, and won the sincere regard 
of all on board. Three weeks after their arrival, 
all the state prisoners were released, and tiiey 
returned to New Orleans. General Banks de- 
manded the oath of allegiance as a condition of 
their landing. They decUned the condition, and 
returned to New York. 

General Strong chanced to meet Dr. Groodrich, 
one day, at the St. Nicholas Hotel. They looked 
at each other for a moment in some embarrass- 
ment, neither knowing what were the feelings of 
the other. A smile overspread the benevolent 
countenance of the doctor. General Strong of- 
fered his hand, which Dr. Goodrich accepted, 
and the two men laughed heartily at the odd en- 
counter. 

" You did that well," said the clergyman, 
" since you had made up your mind to do it ; but 
why did'nt you come to me privately and give 
me notice?" 

General Strong explained the circumstances, 
and they continued' to converse amicably. 

On the Sunday after the departure of the 
clergymen trom New Orleans, their churches 
were open as usual, but the exercises were con- 
ducted by chaplains of the Union army, who read 
the service without abridgment. Not many of 
the auditors were of the secessionist persuasion. 
Church goin^, however, became a more frequent 
practice among officers and men after this purg- 
ing of the pulpits, and, consequently, the places 
of the absent members were not all vacant. 

The pass-office at head-quarters presented the 
the most di.-tressing illustrations of the iron- 
handed rule to which Louisiana was necessarily 
subjected. Within the Union lines there was 
comparative plenty ; beyond them there was 



MORE OP THE IRON HAND. 



12^ 



desolation and want Food, clothing and medi- 
cines were to be had in New Orleans by all wlio 
could pay for them; and to such as cnuld not, 
they were given. Across the lakes, and above 
the camp of General Phelps, at Carrollton, and 
in the region lying on the western side of the 
rivcT, food was scarce in the extreme, clothing 
was scarcer, and the stock of medicines had long 
been exhausted. There were parents in the city 
who had starving children or sick children in 
the enemy's country, only a few miles distant. 
There were people in New Orleans whose aged 
parents, just beyond the lines, were snCfpring for 
the necessaries of life. There were others whose 
near relations, people of substance and respect- 
ability, were going half naked, or were dying for 
want of medicines. On the other hand, there 
were hundreds of secessionists in the city, whose 
constant aim, whose sole employment was, to 
devise means of smuggling supplies across the 
lines to the camps of rebel soldiery. 

The pressure, therefore, upon the commanding 
general for passes to go beyond the Union lines, 
was great and continuous. There were a hun- 
dred applications a day. Women came to head- 
quarters imploring permission to take a little 
clothing, medicine and food to their perishing 
children, calling aJl the saints to witness the 
truth of their story and the honesty of their in- 
tentions. A large majority of tlie applicants 
were women, who assailed the tender hearts of 
the general and his staff with tears, entreaties 
and protestations. 

During the first week«, General Butler 
himself heard the applicants, and decided upon 
their claims. But as this business involved a 
great deal of questioning, cross-questioning and 
examination of papers, he was compelled, at 
length, to establish a member of his staff in an 
outer office at head-quarters, whose duty it was 
to sift from the mass of suitors the few wiiose 
story seemed credible and to warrant the indul- 
gence of a pass. These were reported to the 
general, who then decided upon their application. 
Captain A. F. Puffer, of Boston, was the officer 
selected for this duty. When he left the city to 
conduct the three clergymen northward, his 
place was filled by Lieutenant Frederick Martin, 
of New York. These young officers held a post 
which severeh' taxed their patience, their firmness 
and their sagacity. I might add tlieir iutegritj', 
also, if the integrity of an honorable soldier 
could ever be severely tried. " I was so often 
oflered money for a pass," said Captain Puffer, 
" that, at last, I ceased to be indignant, and 
would merely say to the orderly in attendance, 
as a matter of business, ' Show this woman out.' 
He was once offered three thousand dollars for 
a pass, the money to be paid before it was pro- 
cured. 

From the first, nine in ten of the applications 
were refused. Every one at head-quarters was 
aware that the indulgence was almost certain to 
be abused in some instances; and that the only 
safe course was to make the lines impassable. 
But many of the cases were so movingly piteou.'', 
the agony of the applicants seemed so real and 
so great, that it was not in human nature to 
shut the door inexorably upon them. Every 
possible precaution was taken to prevent the 
conveyance of contraband articles, or articles in 
contraband quantities. Every box and pstckage 



was minutely examined; every departing boat 
was searched. A list was required of everything 
allowed to be taken, and the applicant pledged 
his honor that he would take nothing else, nor 
apply the articles to any but the specified use. 

It soon appeared, however, that nearly every 
pass that was granted was abused. It soon ap- 
peared that a secessionist considered it no more 
dishonorable to lie to a Union officer than Jews 
once deemed it a sin to lie to a Christian. Here 
would come a woman, having the appearance 
and manners of a lady, begging with tears and 
sobs for permission to convey to her starving 
children across the lake just one barrel of flour, 
that they might have at least the means of sus- 
taining life. She would bring friends and papers 
in great numbers to testify to the truth of her 
story. After many days the pass would be 
granted ; and the detective officer, upon probing 
the barrel with a probe of extra length, would 
find a poimd or two of quinine in the middle. 
A trunk of clothes would be found to have a 
false bottom stuffed with contraband articles. 
A barrel of potatoes would serve to hide some 
thousands of percussion-caps. Letters, too, giving 
contraband information, were frequently dis- 
covered concealed in the boats. 

Every detection, of course, increased the 
stringency of the pns.s-office. In August, the 
rebels began to seize boats that ventured within 
their lines, with a view to collect a flotilla for 
operations against the city. Then, at length, 
was adopted the inflexible rule, that no passes 
should be granted. Tlie adoption of the rule, 
however, did not lessen thenumber of applicants, 
nor diminisii their importunity. "I was plied," 
says Captain Puffer. " with every conceivable 
story of heart-rending woe and misery, which 
the general, in consequence of the fact that in al- 
most every instance where he had yielded to 
such importunities, his confidence had been 
abused by tiie carrying of supplies and informa- 
tion to the rebel army, had ordered me invaria- 
bly to refufje. Ordinarily, I succeeded in steel- 
ing my heart against these urgent entreaties ; 
but occasionally some story, peculiarly harrow- 
ing in its details, seemed to demand a special 
effort in behalf of the applicant, and I would go 
to the general, and, in the desperation of my 
cause exclaim : 

" General, j^ou must see some of these people. 
I know, if you would only hear their stories, you 
would give them passes." 

" You are entirely correct, captain," he would 
reply. " I am sure I should ; and that is pre- 
cisely why I want you to see them for me." 

" And with this very doubtful satisfaction T 
would return to my desk, convinced that .sensi- 
bility iu a man who was allowed no discretion in 
its exercise, was an entirely useless attribute, 
and that in future, I would set my face as a flint 
against every appeal to my feelings."* 

Two incidents of the pass-ofSce, related to me 
by Lieutenant Martin, will place this matter dis- 
tinctly before the reader s mind. 

One Mrs. L. haunted the office for three weeks, 
pleading with tears for her starving children, to 
whom she wished to convey a little food. She 
had shown some kindness to Union troops on 
one occasion, when they were passing her house. 



Atlantic Monthly, July, 1863. 



]30 



THE NEGRO QUESTION— FIRST DIPFCULTIES. 



and this was reinembered in her tavor. A pass 
was given her to go to St. Johns and return. 
Something led a detective officer to examine her 
boat with unusual thorouglin«ss. He found 
that " false liips" had been built out upon her 
sides, which were filled ■with commodities out- 
rageously contraband. The woman had deceived 
every one. fler simulation of a motlier's agony 
and tears, sustained, too, for three weelcs, was so 
perfect, that no one could doul^t the reality of 
her emotions. Yet she was a professional 
smuggler. 

Some weelvs later, a lady applied to Lieu- 
tenant Martin for a similar permit. Her chil- 
dren, too, were starving, almost within sight of 
their mother ; and, alas ! this was a genuine 
case. Here children ivere starving. She was a 
lady in every sense of the word, and she con- 
vinced the lieutenant of the perfect truth of her 
story at the first iiiterview. But he could only 
inform her, that no passes were then issued, and 
that any application to the genepal on her behalf 
would be useless. She came every day for a 
month, always hoping for a relaxation of the 
rule. At length, the young officer was so deeply 
moved by her distress, that he promised to dis- 
obey orders so far as to lay her case before the 
general, and she might come the next day to 
learn the result. Slie came. Lieutenant Martin 
had the anguish of tolling her that her applica- 
tion was necessarily refused, as her boat was 
certain to be seized if she cro.?sed the lake. She 
turned pale as death, and fell senseless to the 
floor. She was carried to the nearest physician. 
In half an hour she revived — a raving maniac. 
She hap never known a gleam of reason to this 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE NEGRO QTJESTION — FIRST DIFFICULTIES. 

Louisiana has a population of about six hun- 
dred thousand. Before the war, there was a 
slight excess of whites over slaves, but when the 
Union troops landed at New Orleans, tliero was 
one slave in the state to every white person. 
Many of the parishes contain twice as manj- 
slaves as whites ; some, three times as many ; a 
few, four times as manj'; one has nine hundred 
white inhabitants to nearly nine thousand slaves. 
The marching of a Union column into one of 
those sugar parishes, was like thrusting a walk- 
ing-stick into an ant-hill — tlie negroes swarrned 
about tlie troops, every soldier's gun and knap- 
sack carried by a black man, exulting in the ser- 
vice. For, in some way, this great multitude of 
bondmen had derived the impression that part of 
the errand of these troops was to set them free. 

The population of New Orleans was about one 
hundred and fifty thousand, of whom eighteen 
thousand were slaves and ten thousand free 
colored. The class last named is the result of 
that universal licentiousness whicli exists, neces- 
sarily, in every community where the number of 
slaves is large. Li New Orleans, that licentious- 
ness was systsmatized, and partook, in some de- 
gree, of the character of matrimony. The con- 
nections formed with the quadroons and octo- 
roons were often permanent enough for the rear- 



ing of large families, some of whom obtained 
their freedom from the affection of their father- 
master, and received the education he would 
have bestowed upon legitimate offspring. The 
class of free coloi'ed, therefore, includes a con- 
siderable number of wealthy, instructed, able, 
and estimable persons. They have been styled 
by competent observers, the richest class in Now 
Orleans ; many having inherited large estates, 
and many carrying on lucrative business. One 
of them entertained General Butler at a banquet 
of seven courses, served on silver. 

The secret, darling desire of this class is to 
rank as human beings in their native city; or, 
as the giver of the grand banquet expressed it, 
" No matter where I fight ; I only wish to 
spend what I have, and fight as long as I can. 
if only my boy may stand in the street equal to 
a white boy when the war is over. 

It is difficult for an inhabitant of the North to 
know how far such men as he were from the 
likelihood of ever enjoying the equality he craved. 
There was at the North a general, mild preju- 
dice against color, before the late riots in New 
York expelled the last vestige of it from the 
heart of every decent human being. But, at the 
South, the prejudice is so complete that the 
people are not aware of its existence ; they 
fondle and pet their favorite slaves, and let their 
children plaj'' with black children as with dogs 
and cats. The slightest taint of black blood in 
the superbest man, in the loveliest woman, one 
all radiant with golden curls and a blonde com- 
plexion, perfect in manners and abounding in 
the best fruits of culture, suffices to damn them 
to an eternal exclusion from the companionship 
of the people with whom they would naturally 
associate. The most striking illustration of the 
intensity of this abhorrence of African blood is 
the well-known fact, that a white wile in New 
Orleans is not generally jealous of her liusband's 
slave mistress; and is frequently capable of con- 
soling iierself by the reflection that the other 
family, in the next street, are worth a hundred 
dollars eacli on tlie day of their birth, and in- 
crease in value a hundred dollars a year during 
the first fifteen years of their lives. She does 
not recognize in the mother of those children a 
being that could, in any sense of the word, be a 
rival of a woman in whose veins tfowed no 
African blood that was discoverable. The slave 
mistress, also, relieved the sickly white wife of 
the burden of child-bearing. This is southeriL 
prejudice against color. The prejudice that pre- 
vailed at the North, before the recent scenes re- 
vealed to every one its hellish nature, was bas;^ 
enough, and was strongest in the basest; but ic 
was a trivial matter compared with the unc<:>Ti- 
scious completeness of aversion that is obser\a- 
ble in the true southerner — the " original seces- 
sionist." 

There were a great many loose negroes about 
New Orleans when the troops landed, slaves oi' 
mastei-s in the rebel army left to shift for them- 
selves. A still larger number hired their time 
from their masters, and demonstrated that they 
couldtiike care of themselves, besides contributing 
from sixty cents to a dollar and a half a day to 
the maintenance of another family. 

"These colored girls," said a newicomer one 
day to a Union officer, " whom I see selling 
bouquets, nuts, oranges, cakes, candies, and 



THE NEGRO QUESTION— FIRST DIFFICULTIES. 



131 



amall wares, on the street corners, must save a 
great deal of money." 

These people," was the reply, •' are merely 
the agents of their white uiasteis and mistresses, 
who grow thek flowers and oranges, make the 
bouquets, pies and candies, and send their slaves 
to sell them in the streets. If she is an apple or 
a violet short, the balance is struck on her back. 
Many of the people of New Orleans live, and have 
lived for years, in this way." 

It is obvious to the most unreflecting person, 
that the negro question at New Orleans could 
not be disposed of, as at Fortress Monroe, by an 
epigram. Fortress Monroe was a Union island 
in a secession sea. The number of slaves in the 
vicinity was not great ; only nine hundred in all 
found their way to Freedom Fort; and every 
laborer who came in was one laborer lost to tlie 
rebel batteries. The duty of the commanding 
general was clear the moment the "epigram" 
occurred to his mind. But, in Louisiana, any 
considerable disturbance of the relations of labor 
to capital would have been a revolution far more 
revolutionary than any merely political change 
ever was. Suppose, for example, that all slaves 
coming into a Union camp had been received 
and maintained, as they were at the fortress. 
General Butler would have had upon his hands, 
in a month, in addition to the thirty thousand 
destitute whites, not less than lift}- thousand 
blacks, for whom he would have had to provide 
Ibod, shelter, clothing and employment; while 
tlie plantations from which the city was supplied 
with daily food would have lain waste. Tlie 
Foitress Monroe experience was, evidently, of 
no avail in dealing with the negro question at 
New Orleans. 

The mstructions given by General McClellan 
to General Butler were silent on this most per- 
plexing subject. General Butler, however, had 
instructions with regard to it. On leaving Wash- 
ington he was verbally informed by the president, 
that the government was not yet prepared to an- 
nounce a negro policy. They were anxiously 
considering the subject, and hoped, ere long, to 
arrive at conclusions. Meanwhile, be must 
"get along" with the negro question the best 
way he could; endeavor to avoid raising insolu- 
ble problems and* sharply defined issues ; and 
try to manage so that neither abolitionists nor 
" conservatives" would find in his acts occasion 
for clamor. This, however, only for a short 



negroes made their appearance — at Fort St. 
Philip, Fort Jackson, Carrollton, Algiers, Baton 
Rouge, and elsewhere. 

A new article of war forbade the return of 
these fugitives to their mastei-s. What was to 
be done with them? Their labor iu the city 
was not wanted ; there was a superabundance 
of white laborers. If they were entertained and 
encouraged, what was to prevent an overwhelm- 
ing irruption of blacks into every post ? The 
whole negro population was In such a ferment, 
that only a slight misstep on the part of the com- 
manding general would have sufficed to reduce 
society to chaos. 

In these circumstances, the wise, the great, 
the splendid thing to do, was to declare all the 
slaves in Louisiana free, and put them all upon 
wages, leaving questions of compensation to 
loyal masters to be settled afterward. General 
Butler was capable of writing a general order 
that would have achieved this sublime revolu- 
tion with speedy advantage to every white and 
every black in the state. It was possible, it 
was feasible. It was, of all conceivable solutions 
of the problem, the most easy, the most simple, 
the most expeditious, the least costly, the least 
dangerous. But even if the general had not 
been restrained by instructions, this course wa.s 
excluded even from consideration by the arrival 
of news, on the 9th of May, that General Hun- 
ter's proclamation of freedom to the slaves of 
South Carolina had been revoked by the presi- 
dent. 

He was, therefore, shut up to this one course : 
To preserve, for the present, the status in quo, 
minus as much of the cruelty and wrong of it as 
it might be in the power of the Union ofScers to 
prevent. To use Mr. Lincoln's expression, he 
was obliged "to run the machine as he found 
it," with such slight and temporary repairs and 
modifications as could be hastily made. This was 
the policy adopted. It was never announccn:}, 
but it was the principle acted upon. 

Hence the negroes were not encouraged to 
come in to the Union posts. As many as were 
required for public and private service were em- 
ployed, each officer being allowed one as a ser- 
vant. Several were assigned to the hospitals. 
General Butler himself was served by " General 
Twiggs's William." After some days had elapsed, 
negroes were no longer harbored iu the Custom- 
House, and orders were issued that no more 



time. The moment the administration were pre- ' should be admitted within tlio Union lines, or 
pared to announce a general policy with regard i into the Union camps. 



to the negroes, all generals commanding depart- 
ments would be notified, and required to pursue 
the same system. 

This sounded reasonably enough at Washing- 
ton. It wore a very different aspect when it 
had to be applied to the state of things iu 
Louisiana. 

The difficulty began on the day after the land- 
ing of the troops, and became every day more 
ibrmidable. Some negroes came into the St. 
Charles hotel, penetrated to the quarters of staff- 
officers, and gave information which proved to 
be valuable. Great numbers soon flocked into 
ihe Cuslom-House, pervading the numberless 
apartments and passages of that extensive edifice, 
all testifying the most fervent good-will toward 
the Union troops, all asking to be allowed to serve 
lucm. Wherever there was a Union post, 



But negroes, as we have seen, were placed on 
an equality with white men before the law, and 
allowed to testify against a white man in court. 
The whipping-houses were quietly abolished, and 
the jailers notified that no more human beings 
must be brouglit to the jails to be whipped. 
One of these jailers ventured to advertise, a few 
weeks after the capture of the city, that the 
"law of Louisiana for the correction of slaves 
would be enforced as heretofore." The attention 
of the general was called to this announcement, 
and Colonel Stafford was ordered to inquire into 
it. It was found that one slave had been brought 
in and whipped that morning : but there the fell 
business stopped. Whatever cruelty was com- 
mitted in New Orleans upon the slaves, was 
done in secret; no traffic iu torture was al- 
lowed ; and every slave who asked redress for 



132 



THE NEGRO QUESTION— FIRST DIFFICULTIES. 



cruelties inflicted, and could give reasonable 
proof of the truth of his story, had redress — had 
it promptly and fully. Major Bell judged such 
ca>ses as he would have judged similar ones in 
Boston. General Butler never refused a black 
man admittance to his presence by day or by 
night, and never tailed to do him justice when 
justice was possible. The orders were, that 
whoever else might be excluded from head- 
quarters, no negro should ever be. One conse- 
quence was, that the general had a spy in every 
house, behind exuxy rebel's chair as he sat at 
table. Another consequence was, that every 
slave in New Orleans had, at all times, a protec- 
tor from cr-.ielty in the commanding general. 

The mere diminution of the slaves' awful rev- 
enue of torture was an unspeakable boon to 
them. Those hunkers used to hug the delusion, 
in the old party contests, that kindness was the 
rule and cruelty the rare exception, in tlje treat- 
ment of the slaves. As if despotism coald be 
sustained by anything but cruelty I Thiy Ibund 
that cruelty was the rule, and that such excep- 
tional kindness as is shown to favorite slaves, 
greatly increases the sum-total of their lifetime's 
misery. Slavery is all cruelty.- It was much 
to only lessen the vast, the incalculable, the in- 
conceivable amount of agony inflicted by the 
lash alone. Probably one whipping of thirty? 
nine lashes with the infernal cowhide inflicts 
more anguish than a respectable Massachusetts 
hunker has to endure during his whole life. 
What an instantaneous change of sentiment on 
present political issues would occur, all over the 
country, if thirty-nine arguments of that nature 
were addressed to the devotees of slavery who, 
whatever may be the metal of their heads, aie 
not copper-backed. 

Some planters who had not the means of sup- 
porting their slaves, or of employing them profit- 
ably, obliged them to go within the Union lines, 
trusting to reclaim them in better times. Tliis 
practice was stopped by declaring all such slaves 
emancipated, and giving them free papers. Sev- 
eral slaves were also emancipated who had been 
treated with extreme cruelty by their masters. 
The " star car" system was abolished. Colored 
people were formerly allowed to ride only in the 
street cars that were marked with a black star. 
Generfd Butler required the admission of decent 
colored people into all the public vehicles. Some 

* Dr. Wesley Humphrey writes from Corinth, Missis- 
gippi, May 25, 1868. 

'* I have been selected as the surgeon of the resiment 
of African descent, now forming liere (not all black l>y 
any means), and during tlie past week had occasion to 
examine about seven liundred men in a nude Ktiite, 
preparatory to their being mustered into the United 
States service, and I then' saw evidences of abuse and 
maltreatinent perfectly hoirifying to relate, and must 
be seen to fully understand the abuse to wliich they 
have been subjected. I think 1 am siife in siiying that 
at leont <me-h.<itfo{ that number bore evidence of hav- 
ing been severely whipped and maltreated in vari- 
ous ways ; some were stubheil with a knife ; others 
((hi>t throutrh the limbs; some pounded with clubs, un- 
til their bones were broken. One man told me he had 
received for a triflinir offense two thousand lashes; and, 
upon examination, 1 found seventy-five scitrs upon his 
back and limbs, that rose above the skin the size of your 
finger, saying nothing of the smaller ones. Others had 
the cords of their legs cut (hamstrings, as they call 
them), to prevent their running off; and some were 
shot in resenting such insults. These were witnes.sed 
by the colonel, J. M. Alexander, lieutenant-colonel, 
major, Ac, of the regiment." 



of the police regulations with regard to the 
slaves were still enforced; the rule requiring 
them to be at iiome by nine o'clock in the even- 
ing, for example. 

Such were some of the measures by which 
General Butler strove to " get along" with this 
hideous anomaly, while the president was feel- 
ing his way to a general policy, and waiting for 
the ripening of pul)lic opinion. General Butler, 
like the president himself, stood between two 
flres. One set of Unionists in New Orleans 
kept saying to him, as I read in their letters now 
before me : 

Return all fugitives to their masters ; show, 
by word and deed, that your sole object is the 
restoration of the old state of things ; and Louis- 
iana will return to the Union " in a month." 

Another party said : " No ; the original seces- 
sionists are incurable ; destroy their power by 
abolishing slavery; crush that insolent faction 
utterly ; and Louisiana will hoist the old flag 
with enthusiasm." 

He could do neither of these things. An ar- 
ticle of war forbade the first ; the revocation of 
General Hunter's proclamation forbade the sec- 
ond. His struggle, meanwhile, to " get along" 
with a diEBcully that would not wait for the 
tardy action of the government, brought him 
into painful and lamentable collision with Gen- 
eral Phelps, which resulted in the country's 
losing the services of that noble soldier. 

General Phelps was in command at Carroll- 
ton, seven miles above the city, the post of honor 
in the defensive cordon around New Orleans. " I 
found myself," he remarks, " in the midst of a 
slave region, where the institution existed in all 
its pride and gloom, and where its victims 
needed no inducement from me to seek the pro- 
tection of our flag — that flag which now, after a 
long interval, gleamed once more amid the dark- 
ling scene, like the effusion of morning light. 
Fugitives began to throng to our lines in large 
numbers. Some came loaded with chains and 
barbarous irons; some bleeding with bird-.shot 
wounds; many had been deeply scored with 
la.shes, and all complained of the extinction of 
their moral rights. They had originally come 
chiefly from Maryland, Virginia, and North Car- 
olina, and were generally rel^ious pefsons, who 
had been accustomed to better treatment than 
that which they experienced there." 

General Butler was aware of this influx of 
fugitives ; but, in obedience to the temporary 
policy enjoined upon him by the government, he 
took no notice of the fact. The vehement desire of 
General Phelps wns, not merely to welcome and 
iiarbor the fugitives, but form them into military 
companies and drill them into serviceable soldi' rs. 
He was grieved, therefore, when, on the 12tli of 
May, General Butler requested him to place his 
able-bodied negroes under the direction of two 
planters of the vicinity, tliat they might be em- 
ployed in closing a break in the levee above 
Carrollton, which threatened a disastrous imni- 
dation. " You will see." wrote General Butler, 
" the need of giving them every aid in your 
power to save and protect the levee, even to 
returning their own negroes and adiiimr otliers, 
if need be, to their tbrce. Tliis is outsi.le of the 
question of returning negroes. You should send 
your own soldiers, let alone allowing the mcu 



GENERAL BUTLER AND GENERAL PHELPS. 



133 



who are proteeting us all from the Mississippi 
to have the workmen who are accustomed to 
this service." 

General Phelps did not "see" the need of 
sending back his fugitives. A positive order 
settled the question on the 23d of May : " In 
view of the disaster which might occur to us, in 
case a crevasse should occur above our lines, I 
h^ve concluded to send a force of one hundred 
laborers, in charge of a guard, to attend to 
raising and guarding the levee above your lines. 
You will also place every able-bodied contraband 
within your camp in charge of Captain Page, tlie 
officer of this guard, to assist in this work." 
This was better, thought General Phelps, than 
consigning the negroes to the custody and direc- 
tion of their former masters. The order was 
obeyed, of course. 

Meanwhile, General Butler was besieged with 
complaints of the harboring of fugitives in Gen- 
eral Phelps's camp. All the complainants pro- 
fessed to be Union men; some of them were 
such ; and most of them were the producers of 
vegetables for the New Orleans market. Besides, 
the harboring of the negroes involved the neces- 
sity of their maintenance, and invited the entire 
negro population to fly to the refuge of Union 
posts. It seemed to General Butler necessary 
to check the irruption before it became unman- 
ageable. The following order was therefore 
issued : 

New Orleans, May 28, 1862. 

" General : — You will cause all unemployed 
persons, black and white, to be excluded Irom 
your lines. 

" You will not permit either black or white 
persons to pass your lines, not officers and sol- 
diers or belonging to the navy of the United 
States, without a pass from these head-quarters, 
except they are brought in under guard as cap- 
lured persons, with information, and those to be 
examined and detained as prisoners of war, if 
they have been in arms against the United 
States, or dismissed and sent away at once, as 
the case may be. This does not apply to boats 
passing up the river witliout landing within the 
lines. 

" Provision dealers and marketraen are to be 
allowed to pass in with provisions and their 
wares, but not to remain over night. 

" Persons having had tiieir permanent resi- 
dence within your hues befoie the occupation of 
our troops, are not to be considered unemployed 
persons. 

■' Your officers have reported a large number 
of servants. Every officer so reported empfoying 
servants will have the allowance for servants 
deducted from his pay-roll. 

"Respectfully, your ob't serv't., 

"B. F. Butler." 

"Brig.-Gen. Phelps, Com. Camp Parapet. 

General Phelps was struck with horror at 
Ibis command. The fugitives, however, were 
removed to a point just above the lines, where 
they found partial shelter, and lived on the 
bounty of the soldiers, who generously shared 
with them their rations. An event occurred on 
the 12th of June which brought on the crisis. 
On the morning of that day the negroes num- 
bered seventy-live ; but, within the next twenty- 
four hours, the number was doubled. 



"The first installment," reported Major Peck' 
the officer of the day, "were sent by a man 
named La Blanche, from the other side of tho 
river, on the night of the 13th, he giving them 
their choice, according to their statement, of 
leaving before sundown, or receiving fifty lashes 
each. Many of them desire to return to iheir 
master, but are prevented by fear of harsh treat- 
ment. They are of all ages and physical condi- 
tions — a number of infants in arms, many young 
children, robust men and women, and a large 
number of lame, old, and infirm of both sexes. 
The rest of them came in singly and in small 
parties from various points up the river within 
a hundred miles. They brought with them 
boxes, bedding and luggage of all sorts, which 
lie strewn upon the levee and the open spaces 
around the picket. The women and children, 
and some feeble ones who needed shelter, were 
permitted to occupy a deserted house just out- 
side the lines. They are quite destitute of pro- 
visions, many having eaten nothing for days, 
except what our soldiers have given them from 
their own rations. In accordance with orders 
already issued, the guard was instructed to 
permit none of them to enter the lines. As each 
' officer of the day' will be called upon succes- 
sively to deal with the matter, I take the liberty 
to suggest whether some farther regulation in 
reference to these unfortunate persons is not ne- 
cessary to enable him to do his duty intelligently, 
as well as for the very apparent additional rea- 
sons, that the congregation of such large num- 
bers in our immediate vicinity affords invitmg 
opportunity for mischief to ourselves, and also, 
that uDless supplied with the means of sustaining 
life by the benevolence of the mihtary author- 
ities, or of the citizens (which is scarcely sup- 
posable), ihey must shortly be reduced to 
suffering and starvation, in the very sight of the 
overflowing store-houses of the government." 

General Phelps could endure this state of 
things no longer. He now wrote a paper on the 
subject for the president's own eye, whicli is one 
of the most pathetic, eloquent, and convincing 
pieces of composition which the war has pro- 
duced ; a paper which anticipated, by many 
months, both the policy of the government, and 
the march of public opinion. Public opinion has 
now come up to it. The policy of tiJe govern- 
ment is now the policy recommended by it. 

The government, however, being then reluc- 
tant to adopt General Phelps's radical system, 
and General Butler being but the servant of 
the government, the affair ended in General 
Phelps's resignation. 

The resignation was accepted by the govern- 
ment. He received notification of the tact on 
the 8th of September, and immediately prepared 
to return to his farm in Vermont. All of his 
command loved him, from the drummer-boys to 
the colonels, whether they approved or disap- 
proved his course on the negro question. He 
was such a commandei' as soldiers love ; firm, 
gentle, courteous ; gentlest and most courteous 
to the lowliest ; with a vein of quaint humor 
that relieved the severity of military rule, and 
supplied the camp-gossips with anecdotes. His 
officers gathered about him, before his departure, 
to say farewell. He was touched with the com- 
pliment, for he had been acciistomed, for twenty 
years, to live among his comrades in a lonely 



lai: 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE NEGROES. 



minority of one : respected, it is true, and be- 
loved, but beloved rather as a noble lunatic than 
as a wise and noble man. 

"Gentlemen," said he, in his fine, simple man- 
ner, " I wish, earnestly, that I were able to re- 
ply to you — that I had been gifted with the 
faculty or practiced iii tlie habit of public speak- 
ing — so that I might make some fitting answer 
to the kind words which you have addressed to 
uae; so that I might express my gratitude for 
the feelings which prompt you to come here. 
This is the greatest compUmeut I ever received 
in my life. Indeed, this is the only compliment 
of the kind I ever received. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Lall traced out to you, in more flattering colors 
than the subject deserved, my military career, 
and you observed that it has almost all been on 
the frontier, or at small military posts, where I 
would naturally not come in contact with large 
social gatherings, so that I have never been ex- 
posed, eveu had I deserved it, to receive com- 
pliments like this which you offer me. There- 
fore it is that I now wish, for the first time, that 
I possessed the gift of utterance ; and I assure 
you that I desire it solely because I am ex- 
tremely grateful for this expression of your re- 
gard. 

" So far as the motives which prompted me to 
the step which I have taken are concerned, I do 
not see any reason to regret it. My heart tells 
me that, under the circumstances, I did right in 
resigning my commission. But I do regret ex- 
ceedingly that its first consequence will be to 
separate me from your society. I am truly sorrj' 
to part with you. I was greatly struck — I was 
most favorably impressed — with your appear- 
ance, and bearing, and expression, when you 
arrived to re-enforce me at Ship Island. I v.-as 
touched when I thought I saw in your looks 
that you felt your true position ; that you realized 
that you had left your business and homes to 
fight in an extraordinarily just and holy war; 
that your souls were full of the motives which 
ought to move men who enter into a conflict for 
country and liberty. As I watched our division 
review there, I was more than ever impressed 
with this appearauce of moral nobleness. I had 
seen armies before, but never such an army as 
that ; never an army which knew it had come out 
to fight for the highest principles of right, for the 
good of humanity, and for nothing else. 

"And here, in Louisiana, I have seen you 
growing up to be true soldiers. You have borne, 
worthily, sickness and exposure. You have 
carried your comrades every day to the grave, 
and yet you have not beeu discouraged, but 
have been patient, and cheerful, and a.-^siduous 
in your duties. As I have watched this, I have 
learned to value and esteem you: and, there- 
fore, I am all the more grateful for the good- will 
which you show me. 

" Yet, I must not believe that this kind feeling 
has been aroused solely by what 1 am personally. 
It must come chiefly from the fact that you look 
upon me as in some measure the exponent of a 
great and just cause. It is because you sympa- 
thize more or less with me in my hatred of 
slavery. Perhaps some of you are not yet of my 
opinion. Perhaps the past has still a strong 
hold upon your sentiments. But I firmly be- 
lieve — ^yes, I have a happy confidence — that, 
befare another year is finished, your hearts will 



all be where mine is on this question. And let 
me tell j'ou that this faith is no small consolation 
for the trial of leaving you. 

" And now, with earnest wishes for your wel- 
fare, and aspirations for the success of the great 
cause for which you are here, I bid you good- 
by." 

When, at length, the government had arrived 
at a negro policy, and was arming slaves, the 
president offered General Phelps a major-gen- 
eral's commission. He replied, it is said, tliat 
he would willingly accept the commission if it 
were dated back to the day of his resignation, so 
as to carry with it an approval of his course at 
Camp Parapet. This was declined, and General 
Phelps remains in retirement. I suppose the 
president felt that an indorsement of General 
Phelps's conduct would imply a censure of Gen- 
eral Butler, whose conduct every candid person, 
I think, must admit, was just, forbearing, mag- 
nanimous. 

We can not but regret that General Phelps 
could not have sympathized in some degree with 
the painful necessities of General Butler's posi- 
tion, and endeavored for a while to "get along" 
with the negro diflBculty at Camp Parapet, as 
General Butler was striving to do at New Orleans. 
We should remember, however, that General 
Phelps had been waiting and longing for twenty- 
five years, and he could not foresee, that, in six 
months more, the government would be as eager 
as himself in arming the slaves against their 
oppressors. 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

GENER.4.L BUTLER ARMS THE FREE COLORED MBN, 
AND FUfDS WORK FOR THE FUGITIVE SLAVES. 

General Phelps might have seen the dawn 
of a brighter day, even before his departure. 
General Butler himself could wait no longer for 
the tardy action of the government. Denied re- 
enforcements from the North, he had determined 
to " call on Africa" to assist him in defending 
New Orleans from threatened attack. The 
spirited assault upon Baton Rouge on the fifth 
of Augast, though it was so gallantly repulsed 
by Geneial Williams and his command, was a 
warning not to be disregarded. A.11 the summer 
General Butler had been asking for re-enforce- 
ments, pointing to the growing strength of 
Vicksburg, the rising batteries at the new rebel 
post of Port Hudson, the inviting condition ot 
Mobile, the menacing camps near New Orleans, 
the virulence of tlie secessionists ia the city. 
The uniform answer from the war department 
was: We cannot spare you one man ; we will 
send you men when we have them to send. 
You must hold New Orleans by all means and 
at all hazard.-?. 

So tlie General called on Africa. Not upon 
the slaves, but upon the free colored men of the 
city, whom General Jackson had enrolled in 
1814, and Governor Moore in 1861. He sent 
for sevei-al of the most influential of this class, 
and conversed freely with them upon his project. 
He asked them wiiy they had accepted service 
under the Confcdeiale government, which was 
set up for the distinctly avowed purpose of' 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE NEGROES. 



135 



rjolding in eternal slavery ilieir brethren and 
kindred. They answered that they had nol 
dared to refuse; that they had hoped by serving 
the Confederates, to advance a little nearer to 
equality withwliites; that they longed to throw 
the weight of their class into the scale of the 
Union, and only asked an opportunity to show 
their devotion to the cause with wliicli their own 
dearest hopes were identified. The general took 
them at their word. The proper orders weie 
issued. Enlistment offices were opened. Colored 
men were commissioned. Of the first colored 
regiment, all the field officers were white men, 
and all the line officers colored. Of the second, 
the colonel and lieutenant-colonel alone were 
wliite men, a-nd all the rest colored. For the 
third, the officers were selected without the 
slightest regard to color ; the best men that 
olfered were taken, white or yellow. The two 
batteries of artillery were officered wholly by 
white men, for the simple reason that no colored 
men acquainted with artillery presented them- 
selves as candidates for the commissions. 

The free colored men of New Orleans flew to 
arms. One of the regiments of a thousand men 
was completed in fourteen days. In a very few 
weeks. General Butler had his three regiments 
of infantry and two batteries of artillery en- 
rolled, equipped, officered, drilled and ready for 
service. Better soldiers never shouldered arm.<5. 
They were zealous, attentive, obedient, and in- 
telligent. No men in the Union army had such 
a stake in the contest as they. Few understood 
it as well as they. The best blood in the South 
flowed in their veins, and a great deal of it ; for 
■'the darkest of them," said General Butler, 
" were about of the complexion of the late Mr. 
"Webster." At Port Hudson, in the summer of 
1863, the.se fine regiments, though shamefully 
despoiled of the colored officers to whom General 
Butler gave commissions, demonstrated to the 
whole army that witnessed their exploits, and to 
t,he whole country that read of them, their right 
to rank with the soldiers of the Union as brothers 
in arms. 

This bold measure of General Butler — bold 
in 1862 — was not achieved without opposition. 
Public opinion, in New Orleans, was thus divided 
in regard to arming the free colored men : nearly 
every Union man in the city favored it ; every 
secessionist opposed it. Many of the Union 
ufficers had not yet traveled liir enough away 
from old hunkerism to approve the measure, but 
a large minority of them warmly seconded their 
general. There was but one breach of the peace 
ill the city in coniieni.'n with the colored troops. 
A party of them were stoned by some low 
Frenchmen, who, it appears, received, at the 
liands of the assailed soldiers, prompt and con- 
dign punishment. Need I say, that the French 
consul complained to General Butler? The 
general .set the consul right as to the facts of the 
case, and, at the same time, asked him '• to warn 
his countrymen against the prejudices they may 
have imbibed, the same as were lately mine, 
against my colored soldiers, because tlieir race 
is of the same hue and blood as those of your 
celebrated compatriot and author, Alexander 
Dumas, who, 1 believe, is treated with the utmost 
respect in Paris." In tact, a majority of these 
colored soldiers are whiter men than Dumas. 

In November, the colored regiments were 



employed in the field, in an expedition 'ii>on the 
western bank of the river. They wer-? not eu- 
gaged in actual conflict with the enemy, but their 
conduct, on all occasions, was most exemplary 
and soldier-like. Their presence in a legion 
where there were ten slaves to one white man, 
was thought by General Weitzel to tend to pro- 
voke an insurrection. He was in so much dread 
of such an event, that he asked Genei'al Butler 
to relieve him of the command. 

General Butler, while continuing General 
Weitzel in his position, contrived to gratify him 
by placing the colored troops under another offi- 
cer, one who believed in them. General Weit- 
zel, in acknowledging this complaisance, re- 
marked that if the colored troops, in action, 
proved only half as trustworthy a^ General But- 
ler thought them, the rebellion would most cer- 
tainly be crushed. 

General Weitzel has since had an opportunity of 
witnessing the conduct of colored troops in battle. 
If he was not convinced by General Butler's rea- 
soning, he must have been convinced by what he 
saw of the conduct of these very colored regiments 
at Port Hudson, where he himself gave such a 
glorious example of prudence and gallantry, I 
may add, that the country owes the promotion 
of this accomplished officer from the rank of lieu- 
tenant of engineers to that of brigadier-general 
of volunteers, to the discernment of General But- 
ler, who twice urged it on the war department. 
The heroic Strong was another of General But- 
ler's recommendations to the same rank. Few 
men would have ventured to ask such sudden 
advancement for officers not thirty-two years of 
age. Fort Wagner and Port Hudson justified 
their almost unprecedented promotion. 

As the season advanced, the negro question 
did not diminish in difficulty. The number of 
fugitives constantly increased, until, in the city 
alone, there were ten thousand, many of whom 
were women and children, and all of whom were 
dependent upon the government for support. 
There were great numbers at Fort Jackson, Fort 
St. Philip and Camp Parapet. Many plantations 
had been abandoned by their owners, and the 
negroes remained in their huts idle and destitute. 
The conquests of General Weitzel greatly added 
to the number of abandoned and confiscated 
plantations, and set free thousands of slaves. 
From the starving country bordering on the 
lakes whole families of whites were continually 
commg to the city, sometimes bringing their 
slaves with them, sometimes leaving them be- 
hind to wander ofl' to the nearest post. Society, 
as General Phelps had remarked, seemed on the 
point of dissolution, and General Butler saw be- 
fore him a prospect of having a countless host of 
white and black looking to him for their daily 
bread. 

He determined, in October, to take the re- 
sponsibility of working the abandoned pl.inta- 
tions on behalf of the United States, their right- 
ful owner, and of employing upon them his 
fugitive and emancipated slaves at fair wages. 
Tlie first of his special orders relating to this 
matter has an historical interest and value : 

" New Orleans, October 20, 186S. 

"Special Ordkr, No. 441. 

"It appearing to the commanding general, 
that the sugar plantations of Brown & McMan 



136 



GEJTERAL BUTLER AND THE NEGROES. 



nus have been abandoned by tlieir late owners, 
who are in the rebellion, .ire now running to 
waste, and the valuable crops will be lost, as 
well to the late owners as to tlie United States, 
if they are not wrought; nnd as large numbers 
of negroes have come and are coming witiiin the 
lines of the army, who need employment, it is 
ordered : 

" That Charles A. Weed, Esq., take charge of 
such plantations, and such others as may be 
abandoned along the river, between the city and 
Fort Jackson, and gather and make these crops 
for the benefit of the United States, keeping an 
exact and accurate account of the expenses of 
such. 

" That Mr. Weed's requisition for labor be an- 
swered by the several commanders of camps for 
labor; or, in the scarcity of contrabands, that 
Mr. Weed may employ white laborers at one 
dollar each per day, or each ten hours' labor. 

"That for any stores or necessaries for such 
work the quartermaster's or commissary's depart- 
ment will answer Mr. Weed's approved requisi- 
tions. 

" That said Weed shall be paid such rate of 
compeEsation as may be agreed on ; and that all 
receipts of whatever nature fi'om such plantations, 
be accurately accounted for by him; and that 
for this purpose Mr. Weed shall be considered 
in the military service of the United Stales. 
" By command of Major-General Bui'LER. 
"George C. Strong, A. A. G." 

But this was not all. Among the papers re- 
lating to the negroes of Louisiana, there is a doc- 
ument still more interesting. It contains the 
plan devised by the commanding general for en- 
abling the loyal planters to give a trial to the 
system of free labor : 

New Orleans, La., Ocio&er IS, 1862. 

" Memorandum of an agreement, entered into 
between the planters, loynl citizens of the 
United States, in the parishes of ' St. Bernard ' 
and 'Plaquemines,' in the slate of Louisiana, and 
the civil and military authorities of the United 
States in said state. 

" Whereas, many of the persons held to ser- 
vice and labor have left their masters and claim- 
ants, and have come to the city of New Orleans, 
and to the camps of the army of the gulf, and are 
claiming to be emancipated and free; 

" And whereas, these men and women are in 
a destitute condition ; 

"And whereas, it is clearly the duty, by law, 
as well as in humanity, of tlie United States to 
provide tliem with food and clothing, and to em- 
ploy them in some useful occupation ; 

" And whereas, it is necessary that the crop 
of cane and cereals now growing and approacii- 
ing maturity in said parishes shall be preserved, 
and the levees repaired and strengthened against 
floods; 

"And whereas, the planters claim that the.se 
persons are siill held to service and labor, and 
of right ought to labor for their masters, and that 
the ruin of their crops and pUintations will hap- 
pen if deprived of such services; 

" And whereas, these conflicting rights and 
claims can not immediately be determined by any 
tribunals now existing in the state of Louisiana. 

" In order, therefore, to preserve the rights of 



all parties, as well those of the planters as of the* 
persons claimed as held to service and labor, and 
claiming their freedom, and those of the United 
Stales; and to preserve the crops and property 
of loyal citizens of the United States ; and to 
provide protitalile employment at the rate of 
compensation fixed by act of congress for those 
persons who have come within the lines of the 
army of the United States, 

" It is agreed and determined, that the United 
States will employ all the per.sons heretofore held 
to labor on the several plauiations in the parishes 
of St. Bernard and Plaquemines belonging to 
loyal citizens as they have heretofore been em- 
ployed, and as nearly as may be under the 
charge of the loyal phinters and overseers of said 
parishes and other necessary direction. 

" The United States will authorize or provide 
suitable guards and patrols to preserve order and 
prevent crime in the said parishes. 

" The planters shall pay for the services of 
each able-bodied male person ten (10) dollars 
per month, three (3) of which may be expended 
lor necessary clothing; and for each woman 

( — ) dollars ; and for each child above the 

age often (10) years, and under the age of six- 
teen (16) years, the sum of ( — ) dollars; 

all the persons above "the age of sixteen years 
being considered as men and women for the pur- 
pose of labor. 

" Planters .shall furnish suitable and proper 
food for each of these laborers, and take care of 
them, and furnish proper medicines in ease of 
sickness. 

" The planters shall also suitably provide for 
all the persons incapacitated by sickness or age 
from labor, l)earing the relation of parent, cliild 
or wife, of the laborer so laboring for him. 

" Ten hours a day shall be a day's labor ; and 
any extra hours during which the laborer may 
be called by the necessities of the occasion to 
work, shall be returned as so much toward 
another day's labor. Twenty-six days, of ten 
hours each, shall make a month's labor. It shall 
be the duty "f the overseer to keep a true and 
exact account of the time of labor of each per- 
son, and any wrong or inaccuracy therein, shall 
forfeit a month's pay to tiie person so wronged. 

" No cruel or corporal punishment shall b© 
inflicted by any one upon the person 'so labo- 
ring, or upon his or her relatives; but any in- 
suboidination or refusal to perform suitable labor, 
or other crime or oft'ense, shall be at onee re- 
ported to the provost-marshal for the district, and 
punishment suitable for tlie oft'ense shall be in- 
flicted under his orders, preferably impiisonment 
in darkness on bread and water. 

"This agreement to continue at the pleasure 
of tYie United States. 

" If any planter of the parishes of St. Bernard 
or Plaquemines refuses to enter into this agree- 
ment or remains a disloj'al citizen, tlie per.sons 
claimed to be held to service hv him may hire 
themselves to any loyal planter, or tlie United 
Stales may elect to carry on his plantation by 
their own agents, and other persons than tiios© 
thus claimed may be hired by any planter at his 
election. 

"It is expressly understood and agreed that 
this arrangement shall not be h*;ld to ail'ect . 
after its termination, the legal rights of eiiner 
master or slave \ bw that the question of free 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE NEGROES. 



137 



dom or slavery is to be determined by considera- 
tions wholly outside of the provisions of this 
contract, provided always, that the abase by any 
master or overseer of any persons laboring under 
the provisions of this coulract, shall, after trial 
and adjudication by the military or other courts, 
emancipate the person so abused." 

And, now, what were the results of the ex- 
periment ? We have explicit information on this 
poir t. 

Among tho.se who heard of the startling inno- 
vation, none listened to the tale with deeper in- 
terest than the president of the United States. 
Mr. Chase read to him one of General Butler's 
private letters upon the subject, and the presi- 
dent then wrote a note to the general, asking 
detailed information. The president was also 
curious to Itnow something respecting the elec- 
tion of members of congress in Louisiana, then 
about to take place. General Butler replied in a 
letter, which tlie citizens of free Louisiana will 
consider historically important. 

" Our experiment," wrote the general, No- 
vember 28th, 1862, "in attempting the cultiva- 
tion of sugar by free labor, I am happy to report, 
is succeeding admirably. I am informed by the 
government agent who has charge, that upon one 
of the plantations, where sugar is being made 
by the negroes who had escaped therefrom into 
our lines, and have been sent back under wages, 
that with the same negroes and the same ma- 
chinery, by free labor, a hogshead and a half 
more of sugar has been made in a day tiian was 
ever before made in the same time on the planta- 
tion under slave labor. 

" Your friend, Colonel Shaffer, has had put up, 
to be forwarded to you, a barrel of the first sugar 
ever made by free black labor in Louisiana ; and 
the fact that it will have no flavor of the degrading 
whip, will not, I know, render it less sweet to 
your taste. The planters seem to have been 
struck with a sort of judicial blindness, and some 
of them so deluded have abandoned their crops 
rather than work them with free labor. I 
offered them, as a basis, a contract, a copy of 
which is inclosed for your information. It was 
rejected by many of them, because they would 
not relinquish the right to use the whip, although 
I have provided a punishment for the refractory, 
by means of the provost-marshal, as you will 
see — imprisonment in darkness, on bread and 
water. I did not feel that I had a right, by the 
military power of tlie Unitfd States, to send 
back to be scourged, at the will of their former 
and, in some cases, infuriated masters, those 
black men who had fled to me for protection ; 
while [ had no doubt of my right to employ them 
under the charge of whomsoever I might choose, 
to work for the benefit of themselves and the 
government. I have, therefore, caused the ne- 
groes to be informed that they should have the 
same rights as to freedom, if so the law was, on 
the plantation as if they were in camp ; and 
they liave, in a great majority of instnnces, gone 
willingly to work, and work with a will. They 
were, at first, a little averse to going back, lest 
they should lose some rights which would come 
to them iu camp ; but, upon our assurances, are 
quite content. 

"I think this scheme can be carried out with- 
out loss to the government, and I hope with 



profit enough to enable us to support, for six 
months longer, the starving whites and blacks- 
here, — a somewhat herculean task. 

" We are feeding now daily, in the city of 
New Orleans, more than thirty-two thousand 
whites, seventeen thousand of whom are British- 
born subjects, and mostly claiming British pro- 
tection; and only about two thousand of whom, 
are American citizens, the rest being of the sev- 
eral nationalities who are represented here fromi 
all parts of the globe. 

" Besides these, we have some ten thousand 
negroes to feed, besides those at work on the- 
plantations, principally women and children. 
All this has, thus far, been done without any 
draft upon the treasury, although how much 
longer we can go on, is a problem of whicii I 
am now anxiously seeking the solution. * * * 

" The operations of General Weitzel, in the 
Lafourche country, the richest sugar planting 
part of Louisiana, have opened to us a very large- 
number of slaves, all of whom, under the act, 
are free ; and large crops of sugar, as well those 
already made, as those in process of being made. 
* * * All this portion of tiie country are- 
rapidly returning to their allegiance, and the 
elections are being organized for Wednesday 
next, and I doubt not a large vote will be> 
thrown. 

" I bound Dr. Cotman not to be one of the- 
candidates iu the field. He had voluntarily 
signed the ordinance of secession as one of the 
convention which passed it, and had sat lor his. 
portrait in the cartoon which was intended to- 
render those signers immortal, and which was 
published and exhibited here in imitation of the 
picture of our signers of the declaration of inde- 
pendence; and as the doctor liad never, by any 
public act, testified his abnegation of that act of 
signing, I thought it would be best tlial the 
government should not be put to the scandal of 
having a person so situated elected, although 
the doctor may be a good Union man now. So^ 
I very strongly advised him against the candi- 
dature. It looked too much like Aaron Burr's- 
atterapt to run for a seat in parliament, al'ier he 
went to England to avoid his complication in 
the Mexican affairs and his combat with Hamil-^ 
ton. It is but fair to say that Doctor Cotuian, 
after some urging, concluded to withdraw his 
name from the canva.ss. Two unconditional 
Union men will be elected. I fear, however, 
we shall lose Mr. Bouhgny. He was imprudent 
enough to run for the office of justice of peace 
under the secessionists, and akhough I believe 
him always to have been a good Union man, 
and to have sought that office for personal 
reasons only, yet that fact tells against him. 
However, Mr. Flanders will be elected in his 
district, and a more reliable or better Union 
man can not be found. 

"But to return to our negroes. I find this 
difficulty in prospect : Many of the planters 
here, while professing loyalty, and I doiibt not 
feeling it, if the 'institution' can be spared to 
them, have agreed together not to make any 
provision this autumn for another crop of sugar 
next season, hoping thereby to throw upon us 
this winter an immense number of black.s, with- 
out employment and without any means of sup- 
port for the future ; the planters themselves liv- 
ing upon what they made from this crop. Thus^ 



138 



GENERAL BUTLER AND THE NEGROES. 



no provision being made for the crop either of 
corn, potatoes, or cereals, the government Will 
be obliged to come to their terms for the future 
■employment of the negroes, or to be at enormous 
expenses to support them. 

" We shall have to meet this as best we may. 
Of course, we are not responsible for what may 
be done outside of our lines, but here I shall 
make what provision I can for the future, as 
•well for the cereal and root crop as the cane. 
We .shall endeavor to get a stock of cane laid 
down on all the plantations worked by govern- 
ment, and to preserve seed corn and potatoes to 
meet this contingency. 

" I shall send out my third regiment of Native 
<juards (colored), and set them to work preserv- 
ing the cane and roots for a crop next year. 

" It can not be supposed that this great 
<;hange in a social and political system can be 
made without a shock ; and I am only surprised 
that the possibility opens up to me that it can 
be made at all. Certain it is, and I speak the 
almost universal sentiment and opinion of my 
officers, that slavery is doomed! I have no 
doubt of it ; aud with every prejudice and early 
teaching against the result to which my mind 
has beeu irresistibly brought by my experience 
here, I am now convinced: 

" 1st. That labor can be done in this state by 
Tvhites, and more economically than by blacks 
and slaves. 

" 2d. That black labor can be as well gov- 
erned, used, and made as profitable in a state of 
freedom as in slavery. 

" 3d. That while it would have been better 
could this emancipation of the slaves be gradual, 
jet it is quite feasible, even under this great 
change, as a governmental proposition, to organ- 
ize, control, aud work the negro vvith profit and 
safety to the white ; but this can be best done 
under military supervision." 

" Slavery is doomed I" So says General Rose- 
crans, also. So says the reticent and modest 
General Grant. So says, I believe, every officer 
who has served in the heart of a slave state. 
We shall see, in a moment, by what means the 
true nature of slavery was brought iiome to the 
mind of General Butler, so that he not only fore- 
saw, but exulted in the downfall of the insti- 
tution. 

The perfect behavior of the black men in their 
new character of free laborers has been often re- 
marked. A whole book full of testimony on this 
point could he adduced. If it be objected that 
General Butler had too short i\\\ experience of 
his sy.stem to be able to judge its results, we 
can point to the testimony of men now in Louis- 
iana, who have observed the working of the fiee- 
labor system for more than a year. One highly 
intelligent gentleman has receutlj^ written from 
New Orleans: 

" No one has properly noticed how well the 
slaves in the South have maintaiued their diffi- 
cult position. From the commencement up to 
this time they have in no instance called upon 
their heads the indignation of their masters by 
uny impudent expres.sion or untimely outbreak. 
Whenever our forces have afforded them an op- 
portunity to break their bonds, they have done 
it promptly and efficiently ; but they have, with 
rare prudence, not involved themselves in diffi- 
culties which would be fruitless of substantial 



good to their interests. This conduct on their 
part, it seems to me, exhibits a large amount of 
intellectual ability ; for they have had the intel- 
ligence, while thoroughly understanding the na- 
ture of the revolution going on around them, of 
heartily sympathizing with the enemy; yet they 
have been secretive enough to keep their real 
opinions in their own hearts until the proper 
time came to give them utterance I know of 
no people who, under th« circumstances, could 
have acted better or wiser.'"'^ 

The pre.sident's proclamation of freedom, which 
took effect January 1st, 1863, suggested to Gen- 
eral Butler's fertile genius a measure which, it 
is greatly to be deplored, he had not time to 
carry out before his sudden recall. The proc- 
lamation, it will be remembered, exempted from 
emancipation certain parishes of Louisiana, which 
were already in the possession of the United 
States. It was weU known to General Butler 
that a large proportion of the slaves in those 
parishes belonged to foreign-born " neutrals," 
whose sympathy with seces.sion had given him 
so much trouble. It occurred to him to inquire 
whether, by French law, those Frenchmen could 
hold slaves in a foreign countiy. Consulting 
with a French jurist on the subject, he received 
from him a statement respecting the law of the 
French empire, which showed that no French 
citizen can lawfully hold slaves in any part of 
the world. 

English law forbade the owning of slaves by 
British subjects, under heavy penalties. The 
confiscation act emancipated the slaves of reljel.s. 
So that, while the proclamation of January 1st 
appeared to retain in servitude eighty-seven 
thousand slaves in Louisiana, General Butler 
deemed it feasible, by enforcing the laws of 
France and England, and by the complete exe- 
cution of the confiscation act. to give freedom to 
nearly the whole number of these eighty-seven 
thousand slaves. Probably not more tlian seven 
thousand of the eighty-seven thousand were the 
properly of loyal citizens. The rest were free 
by the laws of Prance, England, or the United 
States. While he was considering the best 
means of bringing these laws to bear in '• ex- 
tending the area of freedom," the coming of his 
successor was announced by rebel telegraph, 
straight from the recesses of the French legation 
at the cit}' of Washington. I should add, that 
the British consul, Mr. Coppell, who now ap- 
peared to be on friendly terms with the com- 
manding general, entered warmly into the half- 
formed scheme. 

I shall take leave of this subject by relating 
several anecdotes illustrative of the practicjil 
working of slavery in Louisiana, and of the man- 
ner in which the system presented itself there to 
the hunker mind. Most of these stories I had 
the pleasure of hearing General Butler himself 
relate. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

REPEESEKTATIVB NEGRO ANECDOTES. 

SPBOIMEN OF THE PROVOST COURT SLAVE CASES. 

John Montamal, a free man of color, married 
a colored womau, who was a slave. Both were 



New York Times, October, 186a 



REPKESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



138 



light mulattoes. From tlie savings of a small 
business, he bought lii.s wife for six hundred 
dollars, so that he stood to her in the relation 
of proprietor as well as husband, and his chil- 
dren were his slaves. Their only suiTiving child, 
when the Union troops arrived, was an intelli- 
gent girl eleven years old, who had been sent 
to school and had been received into the Catholic 
church. The father falling into misfortune owing 
to the troubled times, in an evil hour mortgaged 
his daughter to his creditors, trusting to be able 
to redeem her in time to prevent her from being 
sold. The continuance of the war frustrated his 
plans ; the mortgage was foreclosed ; the child 
was sold at auction by the sherifl'. In this sad 
extremity, he came before the provost court, and 
iisked the restoration of his daughter. The case 
was ably argued by counsel. Colonel Kinsman, 
who was then filling the place of provost judge, 
decided that the girl was free, and gave ber 
k-:jick to her parents. This decision was mani- 
festly contrary to the laws of Louisiana, which 
would have doomed the girl to slavery. But 
Colonel Kinsman agreed witli his predecessor, 
Major Bell, that when Louisiana went out of the 
Union she took, her black laws with her. 

This is the mere outline of the story, which, 
fully related, would furnish the material lor an 
Uncle Tom novel. Readers can understand it 
who have imagination enough to apply the 
situation to a lavorite child, sister, niece, or ward 
of their own. 

8PUC1MEN LETTER FROM A SLAVE TO THE COM- 
MANDING GENERAL. 

•' Nkw Orlrans, June IBtli-, 1862. 
"(jENERAL Butler — Dear Sir: — 

" I am reputed the natural son of one Thomas 
Tliornhill. an aristocratic cotton merchant of this 
city, an officer in the rebel army, lecently killed 
;n one of the battles in Virginia. 

■' My mother, my sister and myself are claimed 
as slaves by George Hawthorne, of this city, who 
has been a soldier in the rebel ai'my from its 
lirst organization, and is now in that army near 
Richmond. Our wages are used for his benefit. 

" He has given a power of attorney to one J. 
A. Banorres, his mistress in this city, to sell, hire, 
or dispose of us at her pleasure. We were not 
slaves for life, but to serve his lifetime by the 
■jvill of his mother. 

" Will your honor save us from perpetual 
davery ? 

" Respectfully, 

" Your humble servant, 

" ViRGINIUS ThORNHILL." 

Oases of this kind were uniformly investigated. 
If the slave established his legal- right to feedom, 
fee was declared free. 

GENERAL BUTLER ON THE FUGITIVE SLAVE 
QU^ESTION. 

Visitor. — " General, I wish you would give 
me an order to search tor my negro." 

•' Have you lost your horse?" 

" No, sir." 

" Have you lost your mule ?" 

" No, sir." 
■ " Well, sir, if you had lost your horse or your 
Joule, would you come and ask me to neglect my 



duty to the government, for the purpose of as- 
sisting you to catch them?" 

" or course not." 

" Then why should you expect me to employ 
myself iu hunting after any other article of your 
property ?" [Exit Visitor. 

convict's CHILDREN. 

In the state prison at Baton Rouge were 
found several children born in prison of female 
colored convicts. By the laws of Louisiana, 
these children were the property of the state, 
doomed to be sold as slaves to the highest 
bidder. Tiie new superintendent, Moses Bates, 
applied to the general for orders with regard to 
them. "I certainlj' can not sanction," wrote 
General Butler, "any laws of the state of Loui- 
siana, which enslaved any children of female 
convicts, born in the Slate prison. Their place 
of birth is certainly not their fault. You are, 
therefore, to take such care of tiiem as would be 
done with other destitute children. If these 
children were born of female convict slaves, 
possibly the master might have some claim, but 
I do not see how the state can have any." 

AN ANECDOTE WHICH THE LATE RIOTERS AND 
THEIR FRIENDS WILL REGARD AS A GOOD 
JOKE. 

General Butler had a dandy regiment in New 
Orleans — one a little nicer in uniform and per- 
sonal habits than any other; and so ably com- 
manded, that it had not lost a man by disease 
since leaving New England. One day the colo- 
nel of thLs fine regiment came to head-quarters, 
wearing the expression of a man who had some- 
thing exceedingly pleasant to communicate. 
It was just before the fourth of July. 

"General," said he, ''two young ladies have 
been to me — beautiful girls — who say they have 
made a set of colors for the regiment, which they 
wish to present on the fourth of July." 

" But is their father willing ?" a.sked the gen- 
eral, well knowing what it must cost two young 
ladies of New Orleans, at that early time, to 
range themselves so conspicuously on the side of 
the Union. 

'• Oh, yes," replied the colonel ; " their father 
gave them the money, and will attend at the 
ceremony. But have you any objection ?" 

"Not the least, if their father is willing." 

"Will you ride out and review the regiment 
on the occasion ?" 

'' With pleasure." 

So, in the cool twilight of the evening of the 
fourth, the general, iu his best uniform, with 
chapeau and feathers, worn then for the first 
time in New Orleans, reviewed the regiment, 
amid a concourse of spectators. One of the 
young ladies made a pretty presentation, to 
which the gallant colonel handsomely replied. 
The general made a brief address. It was a 
gay and joyful scene ; everything passed ofif 
with the highest eclat, and was chronicled with 
all the due editorial flourish in the Delta. 

Two days after, the young ladies addressed a 
note to the regiment, of which the following is 
a copy : 

" New Orlkans, July 5, 1862- 

" Gentlemen : — We congratulate and thank 
you all for the manner in which you have received 



140 



REPRESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



our flag. "We did not expect such a reception. 
We offered the flag to you as a gifl; from our 
hearts, as a reward to your noble conduct. Be 
assured, gentlemen, that that day will be 
always present in our minds, and that we will 
never forget that we gave it to the bravest of 
the brave ; but if ever danger threatens your 
heads, rally under that bnnner, call again your 
courage to defend it, as you have promised, and 
remember that those from whom you received 
it will help you by their prayers to win the 
palms of victory and triumph over your enemies. 

" We tender our thanks to General Butler for 
lending his presence to the occasion, and for his 
courtesies to us. May he continue his noble 
work, and ere long may we behold the Union 
victorious over his foes and reunited throughout 
our great and glorious country. Very respect- 
fully." 

A few days later, an officer of the regiment 
came into the office of tiie commanding general, 
his countenance not clad in smiles. He looked 
like a man who had seen a ghost^ or like one 
who had suddenly heard of some entirely crush- 
ing calamity. 

" General," he gasped, " we have been sold. 

They WERE NEGROES I" 

"What! Those lovely blondes, with blue 
eyes, and light hair ? Impossible!" 

" General, it's as true as there's a heaven above 
us. The whole town is laughing at us." 

" Well," said the general, " there's no harm 
done. Say nothing about it. I suppose we 
must keep it out of the papers, and hush it up 
as well as we can." 

They did not quite succeed in keeping it out 
of the papers, for one of the " foreign neutrals " 
of the city sent an account of the affair to the 
Courier des Etals Unis, in New York, with the 
inevitable French decorations. 

Comment suppressed. 

THE STORY OF JEFF, NOW A LOWELL BARBER. 

A young lawyer of New Orleans came one day 
to head-quarters with a petition. 

" General," said he, "you have a favorite body- 
servant of mine, a mulatto man, named Jetf. 
One of your surgeons has him at the hospital. 
I am used to the fellow — he is a great favorite — 
had him ten years — can't do witliout him. Let 
me have him, and I will give you another man 
as good for your purpose as he is." 

The general referred him to Surgeon Smith, 
who had the mnn. If the surgeon was willing, 
and Jefl' was willing, the general had no objection. 
With a note to this effect from the general to the 
surgeon, the lawyer departed. 

Soon after, surgeon Smith came hurrying to 
head-quarters with a very different version of 
the story. Jeff", he said, was no body-servant, 
but a barber, who had hired his time from his 
master at forty dollars a mouth. " He shaved 
me in his 'shop whfu we landed," added the 
doctor. Every one in New Orleans knows him 
as a b.irber here, established for many years. 
His master only wants his forty dollars a month." 

These facts being established. General But- 
iCr expressed himself upon the subject to the 
owner of this barber, in what Mr. Dickens styles 
"the English language," Jeff" remained at the 
hospital 



A few days after, word was brought to the 
general, that Jeff, bearing free papers as a ser- 
vant of the United States, had been seized in the 
streets, had been overpowered after a desperate 
fight, thrust into a carriage, and driven off" to 
Foster's slave pen. 

'■ Bring Foster here." 

Foster was brought. He said that Jeft' lad 
remained at his pen only for an hour, and had 
then been carried oft" he knew not where. The 
general notified him thiit the business of slave- 
pen keeping was obsolete in New Orleans, and 
warned him against attempting to continue it. 
The detective force was ordered to produce Jeff 
at their very earliest convenience. No trace of 
him, however, could be discovered that day, nor 
during the nigiit. 

The next morning, the captain of a gun-boat, 
stationed below the citj', reported that a man 
had swam off to his vessel at daybreak, in irons, 
calling himself Jeff", who said that he had been 
kidnapped in New Orleans, and taken to a plan- 
tation, where a blacksmith had ironed him, and 
he had been chained in a garret all night, frott» 
which he had escaped by the aid of a file. 
Jeff" himself soon an-ived, and related bis adven- 
tures. It was his master, he said, who had 
seized, carried off, and chained him. 

For this offense the master was tried and sen- 
tenced to two years in the parish prisou. 

After these events, Jeff was made much of by 
the officei-s of the hospital ; was trusted, at length, 
with the keys of the store-closets; which trust 
he variously abused, often getting drunk upon 
the hospital liquors. Hence, after many refor- 
mations and relapses, Jeff found himself an in- 
mate of the same parish prison in which Ws rasis- 
ter was confined. 

It now occurred to the legal mind of the mas- 
ter that Jeff, being a prisoner, could no longer 
be considered under the protection or in the ser- 
vice of the United States. He ventured, there- 
fore, to sell his barber. When Jeff's term of im- 
prisonment had expired, the general received 
information that he had vanished again, and 
could nowhere be found. He sent for the master: 

" Take your choice," said the general : " Pro- 
duce Jeff, or live on bread and water till you do." 

Bread and water did not agree with the lux- 
urious constitution of a man accustomed to live 
upon the wages of a barber. Finding himself 
growing thin upon that austere diet, he soon 
gave the information desired, and Jeff was again 
restored to freedom. The purchaser was con- 
demned to thirty days' imprisonment for buying 
a free man. 

Jeff, being then removed from temptation, be- 
haved so well that General Butler took him into 
his own service ; in which he was at the time of 
the general's return home. Knowing well what 
would befall Jeff if he were left to the tender 
mercies of his master, he brought him to the 
North, where he is established in liis old occupa- 
tion. 

CURIOUS ENTRY. 

The patriotic ex-hunkers who edited the loyal 
Df.Ua, upon looking over the old books of the 
concern, found this entry in one of them : 

"Whipping Wade, two dollars." Wade was 
the respectable porter of the establishment. 



EEPRESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



141 



A COLORED SOLDIER IN TROUBLE. 

Soon after the colored regiments bad beeu 
raised, a provost officer, who augured the worst 
results from the armiag of negroes, came to head- 
quarters with a story that was strongly confir- 
matory of his forebodings. One of the negro sol- 
diers, he said, had killed his former master with 
a bayonet. 

" I'm afraid it will never do, general," said he, 
"this arming of the blacks. I have always said 
80, and here is the proof of it." 

Soon after came a long letter from the British 
consul, detailing the case; Mr. Montgomery, the 
wounded man, being a British subject. '' It ap- 
pears," wrote Mr. Coppei, " that the colored man, 
John Andrew, a dark mulatto, twenty-two years 
of age, formerly owned by Mrs. Montgomery, 
was in the city on Saturday and Sunday last 
on furlough ; that he called twice at Mr. Mont- 
gomery's house ; that when there the second 
time, Montgomery saw him, and told him not to 
come there again ; whereupon, Andrew drew the 
bayonet at his side, rushed upon Mr. Montgom- 
ery, and stabbed him in the left breast, at the 
same time using abusive and obscene language, 
and threatening that if Montgomery approached 
him he would kill him. Fortunately, the wound 
is not a serious one, and, soon after the occur- 
rence, Mr. Montgomery was able to take steps 
to have Andrew arrested. Colonel French kindly 
allowed an officer to accompany Mr. Montgomery 
to the Opelousas railroad statiou this morning, 
but he was unable to find Andrew in the crowd. 
Unable to give definite information of the com- 
pany or regiment to whicli John Andrew belongs, 
beyond that already stated, and that on the 13th 
ult. he dated an insulting letter to Mrs. Mont- 
gomery from Lafourche Crossing, I feel convinced 
that you will deem the crime one that will call 
forth such exertions as will lead to his speedy 
arrest and punishment." 

The case looked black enough for poor John 
Andrew. Alas ! for him, if such a complaint 
had been entered against him in the good old 
■days when a dark mulatto had no rights which 
an Englishman of any complexion was bound to 
respect. 

John Andrew was summoned to head-quar- 
ters. He came, accompanied by his captain, 
who gave him the highest character. Such had 
been the excellent conduct of the man since he 
had enlisted, and such was his capacity and in- 
itelligence, that though he could not read, he had 
been made a corporal. Mr. Montgomery was 
present, and told his story. Mr. Coppell was 
Uiere to support his countryman. 

"Now, Andrew," said the general, "state 
exactly what occurred. Tell me the truth, and 
all the truth." 

'■ I will, general," said he. " I went to the 
camp and joined the regiment. When I had 
been away two weeks, I came back to see my 
agister, who is cook in master's house. I saw 
master as I passed, sitting at the front door. As 
1 was talking with my sister at the back gate, I 
heard the front door slam, and thinking master 
was coming, and not wishing to get my sister 
into trouble, I walked away. 1 heard him 
•calling me, but I kept on, as though [ had not 
heard him. I walked on," said Andrew with 
flashing eyes, and the mien of a prince, " be- 



cause no man has a right to stop a United States 
soldier, except his officer. ' Stop, or I'll blow 
3-our brains out,' said master. I turned, and 
saw that he had a revolver aimed at me. I 
drew my bayonet, and made one pass at him. 
He then turned and went into the house, and I 
walked away." 

This was Andrew's story. 

"Now, Mr. Montgomery," said the general, 
" tell us precisely what part of the man's story is 
not true." 

"Well," said he, "I was sitting at my front 
door, reading the paper, and heard Andrew talk- 
ing to my cook. I took a pistol to drive him 
away." 

" But why take a pistol, and why drive him 
away ?" asked the general. " As a British sub- 
ject you can hold no slave." 

"I did not want him there," said this lying 
coward, "talking with my cook. He had sent 
my wife an insulting letter." 

" What was the letter? Produce it." 

The letter, which Andrew had got one of his 
comrades to write for him, proved to be one of 
the most friendly and respectful character. It 
began thus : " Dear Mistress : I take ray pen in 
hand to let you know that I am well, and hope 
you are the same. I was sorry to part from 
you," etc., etc. There was not a word in it 
whicli was not respectful or affectionate. 

Witnesses of the affray confirmed the truth of 
Andrew's story. 

" My judgment is," said the general to the 
consul, " that Andrew served him right. I see 
nothing to blame in his conduct, except that he 
did not strike hard enough ; and if your friend 
wishes anything more done in connection with 
this case, we'll try him on a charge of assault 
with intent to kill." 

Montgomery expressed no desire for farther 
proceedings, and the case was dismissed. An- 
drew returned to his regiment in triumph. 

ANECDOTE SHOWING THE GOOD DISPOSITION OP 
THE EMANCIPATED NEGROES, AND THE PERFECT 
SAFETY OF IMMEDIATE ABOLITION. 

Major Strong received from an officer com- 
manding an expedition, the following letter early 
in November. 

"In still farther confirmation of what I wrote 
you, in my dispatch this morning, relative to 
servile insurrection, I have the honor to inform 
you, that, on the plantation of Mr. David Pugh, 
a short distance above here, the negroes, who 
had returned under the terms fixed upon by 
Major-Geueral Butler, without provocation or 
cause of any kind, refused this morning, to work, 
and assaulted the overseer and Mr. Pugh) in- 
juring them severely ; also a gentleman who 
came to the assistance of Mr. Pugh. Upon the 
plantation, also, of Mr. W. J. Miner, on the Ter- 
rebonne road, about sixteen miles from here, an 
outbreak has already occurred, and the entire 
community thereabout are in hourly expectation 
and terror of a general rising." 

Investigation ensued, which established the 
facts that follow : 

Senator Pugh's negroes, when the Union 
troops possessed the Lafourche country, were 
among those who came pouring into the Union 
camp, and who had returned to their work 



142 



REPRESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



under a promise of protection in all theii- rights, 
and a fair sliare of the proceeds of their labor. 
One morning, when the negroes were assembled 
as usual, to go to the field, one of them left the 
line and ran toward his cabin. 

" Come back," shouted the overseer, in the 
old, brutal tone of command. 

" I'm only going after ray coat," said the man. 

lie went to his cabin, got bis coat, and re- 
joined the gang before it started. 
• The next morning, when the negroes were 
again drawn up, before going to their work, 
Pugh himself came on the ground, when the 
overseer said to him, pointing out the negro : 

"There's the damned rascal who was impu- 
dent to me yesterday morning." 

Pugh, forgetting that old things had passed 
away in Lafourche, began to belabor the negro 
over the head with his walking stick. The ne- 
gro, who had a better memory, resisted, and de- 
fended himself. The overseer came to the assist- 
ance of his employer. The other negroes joined 
in the fray, and, in a very few seconds, the two 
white men found themselves flat on the ground, 
each held down by half a dozen stout negroes. 

What any other gang of laboring men, except 
negroes, would have done next in such circum- 
stances, we all know ; the savpge Pugh and his 
lying overseer would have received the punish- 
ment due to their insolence and brutality. These 
negroes, unmoved by the memory of a thousand 
wroug.s, carefnlly bound the two prostrate men, 
hand and foot ; made two litters ; placed them 
gently upon the litters; and, conveying them in 
silence to the nearest Union camp, laid them 
down before the tent of the commanding officer, 
and waited patiently there, cap in hand, to relate 
the occurrences which justified their novel pro- 
ceedings. The most rigorous examination of 
both parties only proved that the negroes had 
told their storj^ witli religious exactness. The 
general justified and applauded the course they 
liad taken, and gave them the protection needed 
in the circumstances. 

Forbearance less meritorious than that shown 
by these poor negroes has been styled sublime, 
and no one has questioned the propriety of the 
epithet. 

THE KIND OF MAN THAT COULD ONCE BE 
ELECTED A JUDGE IN NEW ORLEANS. 

John G. Cocks is his name — Cocks, John G. 
He is the individual, to whom allusion has before 
been made in these pages, whose property Gen- 
eral Butler seized in behalf of Major Anderson. 
At the beginning of the rebellion this Cocks, 
Jttdge Cocks, published in the New Orleans 
Picayune an impudent letter to Major Anderson. 

A PROPOSITION TO MAJOR ANDERSON. 

"New Oiu.BANS, May 16, 1861. 
" Major RoBT. Anderson, 

" Late of Fort Sumter, S. G. : 
" Sir : — You hold my three notes for .$4,500 
each, with about $1,000 accumulated interest, 
all due in the month of March, 1862, which 
notes were given in part payment of twenty- 
nine negroes, purchased of you in March, 1860. 
As I consider fair play a jewel, I take this 
method to notify you that I will not pay these 



notes ; but as I neither seek nor vf'ish an advan- 
tage, I desire that you return me the notes and 
the money paid you. and the negroes shall be 
subject to your order, which you will find much 
Improved by kind treatment since they came 
into my possession. 

" I feel justified in giving you, and the public, 
this notice, as I do not consider it fair piny that 
I should be held to paj' for the very property 
you so opportunely dispossessed yourself of^ and 
now seek to destroy both their value and useful- 
ness to me. I ask no more than to cancel the 
sale, restore to you your property, and let each 
assume his original position ; then your present 
efforts may be considered less selfish, because ar 
your expense, and not mine. 

"John G. Cocks." 

General Butler, in pursuance of his system of 
redressing the wrongs of Union men, seized the 
large estates of Judge Cocks, and held them tor 
the future liquidation of Major Anderson's claim. 
Cocks justly thinking that New Orleans, under 
the rule of General Butler, was no fit place for 
him to reside in, vanished soon after into the 
congenial shades of Secessia. 

A few days after his departure, a young wo- 
man sought an interview with Mrs. Butler, to 
whom many women came at that time, to relate 
their wrongs. So many women, indeed, re- 
.sorted to her for that purpose, that at length it 
was found necessary to close thai door to the 
commanding general's attention. The young 
woman who came to her on this occasion was a 
perfect blonde, her hair of a light shade of brown, 
her eyes " a clear, honest gray," her complexion 
remarkably pure and delicate, her bearing modest 
and refined, her language that of an educated 
woman. It has been often remarked that the 
women of the South, who have been made thf- 
victims of a master's brutal lust, escape moral 
contamination. Their souls remain chaste. This 
woman, so fair to look upon, so engaging in her 
demeanor, so refined in her address, was a slave, 
the slave of Judge Cocks. She told her incredi- 
ble story — incredible until superabundant tes- 
timony compelled the most incredulous to be- 
lieve. 

She said that Judge Cocks was her fajher a< 
well as her master. At. an early age she had 
been sent to school at New York, the school of 
the Mechanics' Institute, in Broadway. When 
she was fifteen years of age, her father came to 
New York, took her from school to liis hotel 
and compelled her to live with him as his 
mistress. She became the mother of a child, 
of whom her master was father and grand- 
father. 

" I am now twenty-one," said she, " and I am 
the mother of a boy five years old, who is my 
father's son." 

Cocks took her home with him to New Or- 
leans, where he continued to live with hor for 
awhile; then ordered her to marry a favorite 
protege. She refused. He had her horsewhipped 
in the streets, and continued a systematic tor- 
ture till she consented. When she had been 
married for some time, the protege (a man so 
nearly white, that he was employed as chief 
clerk in a wholesale house) discovered tie shame 
less cheat that had been put upon him, and 
aband >ned his wife. Then the master took he" 



REPRESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



14c 



again lo his incestuous bed, and gave her a deed 
of manumission, which he afterward took from 
her and destroyed. 

" And now," she added, " he has gone oft" and 
left me and my children without any means of 
support." 

Mrs. Butler, amazed and confounded at this 
tale of horror, procured her an interview with 
the general, to whom the story wa.'* repeated. 



to bring the torturer and bis victim to head- 
quarters the next morning. 

The sergeant hurried back and rescued the 
girl from tiie lash. 

About nine the same evening, the sergeant 
came again to head-quarters, breathless, report- 
ing that they were torturing the girl again, as 
the most heai t-rending shrieks were heard com- 
ing from an upper room in the house. General 



He spoke kindly to her, but told her frankly that ■ Butler ordered him to arrest all the inmates of 



he could not believe her story 

"It is too much," said he, "to beheve on the 
testimony of one witness. Does any one else 
know of these things?" 

"Yes," she replied; "everybody in New 
Orleans knows them." 

"I will have the case investigated," said the 
general " Come again in three days." 

■ General Shipley undertook the investigation. 

■ He found that the woman's story was as true as 
it was notorious. The facts were completely 
substantiated. General Butler gave her her 
freedom, and assigned her an allowance from her 
father's estate ; and, some time after, Captain 
Puffer, during his short tenure of power as 
deputy provost-marshal, gave her one of the 
best of her father's houses to live in, by let- 
ting apartmeut»s in which she added to her in- 
come. 

It is now a j^ear since the outhne of this story 
was first published to the world, but no attempt 
has been made, from any quarter, to controvert 
any part of it. 

STOET OF AN OLD GENTLEMAN WHO THOUGHT A 
MAN COULD DO WHAT HE LECED WITH HIS 
OWN SERVANT. 

A heutenant searched a certain house in New 
Orleans, in which Confederate arms were re- 
ported to be concealed. Arms and tents were 
Ibund stowed in the garret, which were removed 
to that grand repository of contraband articles, 
the Custom-House. A gentleman of venerable 
aspect, with long white hair and a form bent 
with premature old age, was the occupant of 
the house from which the arms and tents M'ere 
taken. 

In the twilight of an evening soon after the 
search, the most fearful screams were heard 
proceeding from the yard of the house, as if a 
human being was suffering there the utmost that 
a mortal can endure of agony. A sentinel, who 
was pacing his beat near by, ran into the yard, 
where he beheld a hideous spectacle. A young 
mulatto girl was stretched upon the ground on 
her face, her feet tied to a stake, her hands held 
by a black man, her back uncovered, from neck 
to heels. The venerable old gentleman with 
the flowing white hair was seated in an arm- 
chair by the side of the girl, at a distance con- 
venient for his purpose. He held in his hand 
a powerful horse-whip, with which he was lash- 
ing the delicate and sensitive flesh of the young- 
girl. Her bock was covered with blood. Every 
stroke of the infernal instrument of torture lore 
up her flesh in long dark ridges. The soldier, 
aghast at the sight, rushed to the guard-house, 
and reported what he had seen to his sergeant, 
and the sergeant ran to head-quartere and told 
the general. General Butler sent him flying 
bacik to stop the old miscreant, and ordered him j 



the house, and keep them in the guard -house all 
night, and bring them before him in the morning. 
On returning to the house, the sergeant found 
that the second outcry was caused by washing 
the lacerated back of the poor girl with strong 
brine. They do this at the South on the pretense 
that it causes the wounds of the lash to heal 
more quickly and with less pain. The real object 
is to make them heal without such scars as 
would lessen the value of the slave at the auctioa 
block. It is said reaUy to have that eflect ; and 
the operation has the farther charm of being 
more exquisitely painful than the punishment 
itself; since the flooding of the back with brine 
revives the dull sensitiveness of the nerves, 
calls back the dead agony to life, renews, in one 
instant, the anguish of each several stroke, and 
I that anguish intensified. The whole extent of 
j the sufferer's back is one biting, burning, pierc- 
I iug, maddening pain. 

In the morning, the hoary wretch and his 
tortured slave were brought to the general's 
oflBce. The upper part of her dress was opetied. 
It was a hideous and horrible sight. 

" What have you to say, sir?" said General 
Butler to the old man. 

He said the girl had given information respect- 
ing the arms and tents in his garret, and she 
was going to run away. 

"It is false, sir," said the general, "so far as 
the information is concerned. We had our in- 
formation from another source. What was the 
cause of the second outcry ?" 

The old man said he did not know. The 
general asked the girl. She said it was master 
washing her with brine. 

" Is this so ?" asked the general. 
" Yes." 

" You damned old rascal I What could tempt 
you to treat a human being so ?" 

" She is my servant, and I suppose I may do 
what I like with her. I washed her to relieve 
her from pain." 

" To relieve her ? 

you to fort Jackson." 

•' General, I am a 

my health is infirm. 

" I can't help that. 



Well, sir, I shall commit 



native of South Carolina ; 

It will kill me." 
And see that you behave 
well, or you shall have precisely the same pun- 
ishment that you have given this poor girl, and 
to relieve your pain, you shall be washed down 
with brine." 

The old native of South Carolina went to Fort 
Jackson, where, I am happy to be able to state, 
he died in a month. General Butler gave the 
girl her freedom, and assigned her a sum of 
money sufficient to set her up in some little busi 
ness, such as colored girls carry on in New Or 
leans. 

A " RESPECTABLE MERCHANT" AND HIS SLAVa 
DAUGHTER. 

One Sunday morning, while General Butler waa 



144 



REPRESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



■eeated at the breakfast table, Major Strong, a j grant injustice ; but on tbis occasi )n he was too 
gentleraan who was not given to undue emotion, deeply afifected to obtain relief in tho usual way 
rushed into the room, pale with rage and horror. | " His whole air was one of dejection, almost 

' Genera, he exclaimed, "there is the mo.n j Hstlessness; his indignation too intense, and his 
damnable thing out here ! ange,. too stern, to find expression even in his 

Ihe general followed him to the office. There j countenance, 
he found the staft' assembled, standing round a 



woman, gazing upon her with flashing eyes, 
their countenances betraying mingled pity and 
fury. The servants of the house were crowding 
about the doors of the room. The woman who 
was the object of so much attention, was nearly 
"white, aged about twenty-seven. Her face 
showed, at the liist glance, that she was one of 
those unfortunate creatures whom some savages 
i'egard with a kind of religious awe, and whom 
civilized beings are accustomed to consider pe- 
culiarly entitled to tenderness and forbearance. 
She was simple-mined. Not absolutely an idiot, 
but imbecile, vacant, half silly. 

" Look here. General," said Major Strong, as 
tie opened the dress of this poor creature. 

Her back was cut to pieces with the infernal 
cowhide. It was all black and red — red where 
the infernal instrument of torture had broken the 
skin, black where it had not. To convey an 
idea of its appearance, General Strong used to 
■say that it resembled a very rare beefsteak, with 
the black marks of the gridiron across it. 

No one oversaw General Butler so profoundly 
moved as he was while gazing upon tliis pitiable 
spectacle. 

"Who did this?" he asked the girl. 
"Master," she replied. 
" Who is your master ?" 
" Mr. Landry." 

Landry was a respectable merchant living 
near head-quarters, not unknown to the members 
of the staff. 

" What did he do it for?" asked the general. 
" I went out after the clothes Irom the wash," 
said she, "and I .'stayed out late. When I 
came home, master licked me and said he 
would teach me to run away." 

" Orderly, go to Landry's house and bring 
him before me." 

In a few minutes, Landry entered the office — 
a spare, tall, gentleniauliko poison of fifty-five. 

" Mr. Landry," said the general, " ihis is in- 
famous. The girl is evidently simple. It is 
the awfulest spectacle I ever beheld in my life." 
At this moment Major Strong whispered in 
the general's ear a piece of information which 
caused him to compare the faces cf the master 
and the slave. The resemblance between thein 
was striking. 

" Is this woman your daughter f " asked the 
general. 

" There are reports to that effect," .said Landry. 
The insolent nouchalence of the man, as he 
replied to tlie last question, so inflamed the mge 
of all who witnessed it, that it needed but a wink 
from the general to set a dozen infuriated men 
at his throat. The general merely said, 
" 1 am answered, sir." 

Tlie general, for once, seemed deprived of his 
power to judjic with promptness. He remained 
for some time," says an eye-wituess, " apparently 
lost in abstraction. I shall never forget the sin- 
gular expression on his face. 

'"I had b(-ea accustomed to see him in a storm 
of passion at any instance of oppresaioa or fiu- 



" Never have I seen that peculiar look but on 
three or four occasions similar to the one I am 
narrating, when I knew he was pondering upon 
the baleful curse that had cast its withering 
blight upon all around, until the manhood and 
humanity were crushed out of the people, and 
outrages such as the above were looked upon 
with complacency, and the perpetrators treated 
as respected and worthy citizens, — and that he 
was realizing the great truth, that, however man 
might endeavor to guide this war to the advan- 
tage of a favorite idea or sagacious policy, the 
Almighty was directing it surely and steadily for 
the purification of our country from this greatest 
of national .oins. 

" After sitting in the mood which I have de- 
scribed, the general again tv.rned to the prisoner, 
and said, in a quiet, subdue-d tone of voice : 

" ' Mr. Landry, I dare not trust myself to de- 
cide to-day what punishment would be meet for 
your offense, for I am in that state of mind that 
I fear I might exceed the strict demands of jus- 
tice. I shall, therefore, place you under guard 
for the present) until I conclude upon your sen- 
tence.' "* 

The next morning, came troops of Landry's 
friends to tell the general what an honorable, 
what a " high-toned," what an amiable gentle- 
man Mr. Landry wa.s, and how highly he was 
respected by all who knew him. They said that 
he had had his lo.sses ; the war had half ruined 
him ; his friends had observed that he had been 
irriidble of late, poor man; and no doubt, he had 
struck his daughter harder than he had intended. 
His wife and his other children came to plead for 
him. A. legal gentleman appeared, also, to do 
what was possible for him in the way of argu- 
ment. 

Gen-jral Butler decided the case thus: Landry 
should give his daughter her freedom, and settle 
upon her a thousand dollars. 

Being in mortal terror of Fort Jackson, he 
gladly complied with these terms. The poor 
gill went forth that day a fiee woman! and a 
trustee was appointed :o administer her little 
fortune and see that no farther harm befell her. 

It was a light penalty for such a crime. I 
could almost wish the general had treated the 
case d la Wellington — rung for three poles and 
a rope, and had the wretcii hanged, that Sunday 
morning, in the nearest public square. God and 
man would have applauded the deed, and there 
would have been no more woman-whipping in 
New Orleans while the f!;ig of the United States 
floated over the Custom-House. 

I close this chapter of iiorrors. Each of these 
anecdotes illustrates one phase of the accunsed 
thing, and all of them tend to show what has 
been already remarked, that die worst conse- 
q4ieiices of slavery fall upon tlio white race. It 
is better to be murdered th;iii to be a murderer. 
It is better to be the victim of cruelty than to be 
capable of inflicuiig it. Mr.s. Kerable judges 



♦ AUo'vUc M^nthli/, July, 1863. 



[REPRESENTATIVE NEGRO ANECDOTES. 



145 



rightly, when she says, in her recent noble and 
well-timed work, that it were far preferable to be 
a slave upon a Georgian rice pl;intation than 
to be the lord of one, with all that weight of 
crime upoa the soul whicii slavery necetisii&ies, 
and to become so completely depraved as to be 
able to contemplate so much suffering and 
iniquity with stolid indifference. 

These scenes sank deeply into the hunker 
mind. General Butler, as he himself remarks, is 
not a man of the cast of character which we call 
humanitarian. A person of very great executive 
force never is, for nature does not bestow all her 
good gifts upon any individual. To his own 
circle ol friends he would be more than generous ; 
he makes their cause hie own ; he is faithful to 
them unto death, and after death. He was not 
satisfied to get for Major Strong a commission as 
brigadier-general, nor satisfied to come two 
hundred miles to attend his funeral ; but he took 
care of liis fame also, writing with his own hand 
the historj' of his career for the press, and cor- 
recting errors and supplying omissions in the 
eulogies penned by others. Still, he is not, in 
the modern sense of the term, a " philanthrop- 
ist." He loves men more than he loves man. 
But a woman's bleeding back, the manlers brutal 
insen.sibililj', the absolute destruction in the 
character of slave-owners of all that redeems 
human nature, such as sense of truth, pity for 
the helpless, regard for the sanctities of domestic 
life ; the tlighty inferiority of their minds, their 
stupid improvidence, their incinable wrong- 
headeduess and wrong-hearteduess, their childish 
vanity and shameful ignorance, their boastful 
emptiness and contempt for all people and na- 
tions more enlightened than themselves ; these 
things appealed to him, these things he markeil 
and inwardly digested. Impatient as he had 
previously been at the slow progress of the war, 
he now became more reconciled to it, because he 
saw that every mouth of its continuance made 
the doom of slavery more certain and more 
speedy. He was now perfectly aware tlwt the 
United States could never realize General 
Washington's modest aspiration, that it might 
become " a respectable nation," much less a 
great and glorious one, nor even a nation homo- 
geneous enough to be truly powerful, until sla- 
very had ceased to e.xist in every part of it. 

Those who lived on intimate relations with 
the general, remarked his growing abhorrence of 
slavery. During the tirst weeks of the occupa- 
tion of the city, he was occasionally capable, in 
the hurry of indorsing a peck of letters, of spell- 
ing negro with two g's. Not so in the later 
months. Not so when he had seen the torn and 
bleeding and blackened backs of fair and dflicate 
women. Not so when he had reviewed his 
noble colored regiments. Not so when he had 
learned that the negroes of the South were 
among the heaven-destined means of restoring 
the integrity, the power, and the splendor of his 
country. Not so when he had learned how the 
oppression of the negroes had e.xlinguished in 
the white race almost every trait of character 
which redeems and sanctities human nature. 

" God Almighty himself is doing it," he would 
say, when talking on this subject. " No man's 
hand can stay it. It is no other than the om- 
iiipoi.o.it God who has taken thus mode of destroy- 
ing sla/ery. "We are but the instruments in his 
10 



hands. We could not prevent it if we would. 
And let us strive as we might, the judicial blind- 
ness of the rebels would do the work of God 
without our aid, and in spite of all our endeavors 
against it." 
AmenI 



CHAPTER XXV. 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



General McClellan's orders to the com- 
mander of the department of the gulf directed 
him, first,, and before all other objects, to hold 
New Orleans. To that everything was to be 
sacrificed. Next, he was to seize and hold all 
the approaches to the city, above and below, on 
the east and on the west, wliich included tiie seiz- 
ure ot all the railroads and railroad property in the 
vicinity. He was farther directed to co-operate 
with the navy in an attack upon Mobile, and, if 
possible, to threaten Pensacola and Galveston. 
General McClellan added that it was the design 
of the government to send re-enfbrcenients suf- 
ficient for the accomplishment of all these pur- 
poses, as well as more detailed instructions. 
Circumstances prevented the sending of re-en- 
forcements, as we have seen. Nor were partic- 
ular orders respecting military movements for- 
warded, except that the attack upon Mobile 
should be postponed until the completion of 
some of the monitors. Whatever General Butler 
accomplished in his department was done by the 
force he brought with him, and the regiments 
which he raised in New Orleans. 

All the objects of the expedition named in the 
orders of the commander-in-chief were accom- 
plished except two. One of these was the re- 
duction of Mobile, which was countermanded. 
The other was the opening of the Mississippi, 
above Baton Rouge, which was attempted, but 
found impossible without a very large increase 
of force. Let us dispose of that matter first. 

ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE MISSISSIPPI. 

The troops were no sooner posted around the 
city than General Butler began to prepare an 
expedition to ascend the river, to occupy Baton 
Rouge, and reconnoiter Vicksburg, which waa 
then looming up as the most formidable obstacle 
which the enemy had yet interposed to the free 
navigation of the Mississippi. Fort Hudson had 
not ihen been fortified. Later in the year Gen- 
eral Butler had the pain and mortification of see- 
ing the batteries of Port Hudson rising and 
strengthening daily, he powerless to prevent it. 
He gave early warning respecting this new po- 
sition to the government. Two monitors and 
five thousand men, he said, could take the place 
in October, 1862, which a whole tieet and a 
large army might not be able to reduce six 
months later. The requisite force could not be 
sent ni time, and it cost many thousand of pre- 
cious lives to invest it ia the summer of 1863. 
The peninsular losses paralyzed the powers of 
the government at the points most remote from 
the scene of those tremendous disasters, and no- 
where was their baleful influence more manifest 
than in the southwest. 



146 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



To procure river steamboats tor transporting 
the troops was the first difficulty. The rebels 
had wisely burned all the steamboats at the 
levee of the cit}-. except one or two small ones. 
It was known, however, that many boats had 
been hidden away in the bayous of ihe Del- 
ta ; and hence the steamboat hunting- to which 
allusion has betbre been made. Parties of 
troops went peering and floundering through 
the wooded swamps of the adjacent country in 
search of these hidden vessels. The gun-boats 
of the navy cruised for the same purpose along 
the borders of the lakes, and pushed up the tor- 
tuous streams that empty into them. Several 
steamers were obtained in this way, which the 
unwilling or timid mechanics of New Orleans 
were compelled to repair. 

General Williams and his brigade, convoyed 
by a naval force under Captain Parragut, went 
up the river to Baton Rouge, of which they took 
peaceable possession. Captain Farragut, General 
Williams and General Weitzel surveyed the bluffs 
upon which Yicksburg stands. They found the 
town too high to be reached by guns fired from 
the river, and too poweifully garrisoned and for- 
tified to be carried by assault with less than ten 
thousand men. Army and navy were, there- 
fore, obliged to confess, that with the forces then 
in the department, Yicksburg was an obstacle 
in the way of the free navigation of the river 
which could not be overcome. 

This opinion being communicated to General 
Butler, he devoted the spare hours of a week to 
the study of the position. Maps, plans, measure- 
ments, natives of the town, engineer officers, and 
even works on geology were dul}' examined. 
The conception of the celeljrated cut-off was the 
result of his inquiries and cogitations. It was a 
truly ingenious and most plausible scheme. 
Such a canal cut across almost any other bend 
of the river would have answered the purpose 
intended. But nature bad concealed under the 
soft surface of that particular piece of land, a bed 
of tough clay, which baffled the project of di- 
verting the course of the river. It happened, 
also, that the force of the stream at that point 
tends to the opposite shore, and could not be 
persuaded to co-operate efl'ectually with the la- 
bors of the canal-cutters. Consequently the 
Father of Waters kept to his ancient bed, and 
Yicksburg remained a river town. For a long 
time General Butler lived in hopes of sending 
Yicksburg a few miles into the interior, and 
opening the Mississippi to commerce ; but na- 
ture had taken her precautions, and he could 
not prevail. 

GOVERNING THE TROOPS. 

When the yellow fever season was approach- 
ing, the alarm among the officers of the army 
was sucji, that it amounted at times to some- 
thing like panic. The general was overwhelmed 
with requests for leaves of absence ; and when it 
was found that these were only granted in ex- 
treme cases, tlie resigning fever broke out and 
raged with dangerous violence. The manner in 
which the general met this new difficulty, which 
threatened to deprive him of indispensable offi- 
cers, was characteristic and effectual. Take one 
scene as a specimen of those which were daily 
enacted at head-quarters during the month of 
Jun* 



Enter, a bluff rosy lieutenant, the picture of 
robust health, bearing in his hand a doctor's cer- 
tificate, which declared that the lieutenant could 
not live thirty days longer in such a climate as 
that of Louisiana. The general looked at the 
man in some amazement. 

" You see, General," said the lieutenant, '• that 
the surgeon of my regiment says, I can't live 
thirty days in New Orleans." 

" Do you tliiuk so ?" asked the general, look- 
ing him steadily in the face. 

" Well, General," replied the officer, with a 
manifest abatement of confidence in his cause, 
" I shouldn't wonder if the surgeon is right." 

'•I propose to try the experunent," said the 
general, "/think you'll live. But if I should 
prove wrong, I'll ask the surgeon's pardon. If 
he is wrong, he shall apologize to me." 

The officer laughed and retired. He enjoyed 
perfect health all the summer; with the ad- 
ditional felicity of much bantering on his un- 
successful attempt to deprive the department of 
a lieutenant. 

With regard to the resignations. General But- 
ler, at once, took the ground, that to resign 
in such circumstances was precisely as in- 
famous as to resign in presence of the enemy. 
The yellow fever was the enemy, and the only 
enemy that was really formidable to the troops 
stationed in and around the city. Nevertheless, 
a few resignations were promptly accepted; buC 
so accepted as to serve as a warning to other 
officers not to avail themselves of that mode of 
escape. On the letter of a surgeon, who resigned 
for the alleged reason that his private aS'airs de- 
manded his presence at home, the following 
words were written by the general : 

"This application will be forwarded to the 
secretary of war, with this indorsement: ' A sur- 
geon who would make his private and domestic 
affairs an excuse for leaving his regiment, and 
exposing his fellow-citizens to the want of 
medical attendance at this season of the year — 
knowing that his place could not be supplied for 
months — deserves to be cashiered for cowardice 
or neglect of duty. — B. F. B.' " 

This indorsement was inserted in the Delta,' 
forthwith. There were not many resignations 
afterward — none of surgeons. I notice, how- 
ever, a few more of those terrible "indorse- 
ments." Here is another, which was written on 
the letter of an officer, who assigned as a reason 
for resigning, that he was "incompetent." 

"This officer has now been nine months in 
the service. If, in this time, he has just learned' 
his incompetency, there must be something 
wrong in his mental or moral capacity. I be- 
lieve the latter, and, therefore, he is dismissed 
the service, subject to the approval of the presi- 
dent. If incompetent, he has done the United. 
States no service, but much harm, and is entitled, 
to no pay." 

Another: 

" Any officer who makes ' business aflairs' a< 
reason for quitting the service at this juncture, 
has dishonored himself, and should be dishonora- 
bly discharged, as is done in the case of Cap- 
tain ." 

Another : 

" Captain 's resignation is accepted, but> 

he is dishonorably discharged from the service. 
If his medical certificate is true, that he has been 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



147 



suffering for five years uader the disease because 
of which he now leaves the service, without its 
yielding to medical skill, it was both immoral 
and dishonorable to have taken the commission. 

There are indorsements of another character 
upon some of the applications for leave of ab- 
sence ; as witness this, upon the back of an ap- 
plication for a short leave from Lieutenant-Colonel 
Keith, of the Twenty-first Indiana. 

" Granted. Colonel Keith's services to the 
government have been most valuable. His gal- 
lantry and courage are honorably mentioned." 

General Butler's care of the health of the 
troops during the hot season was assiduous and 
wisely directed. Familiar with sanitary science, 
he was able to give explicit and effectual orders 
on the subject, as well as sound advice to the 
surgeons. The men were required to wear their 
woolen clothes during the summer; to bathe 
frequently; to avoid sleeping in the open air; 
to keep their camps religiously clean ; to abstain 
from stimulating food and drink ; to avoid need- 
less fatigue and exposure to the sun. 

Observe the four orders that follow, particu- 
larly the last paragraph of the second : 

" New Orleans, June S, 186'2. 

" I. The laundresses of companies are not per- 
mitted to come into the quarters of the men. 
They must be kept in their own quarters, and 
the clothing sent to them and sent for. 

" II. Any ofBcer who permits a woman, black 
or white, not his wife, in his quarters, or the 
quarters of his company, will be dismissed the 
service. " 

"New Oeleans, SepUmher 19, 1862. 

" I. It having been made to appear to the 
commanding general, that upon marches and 
expeditions, soldiers of the United States arm,y 
have entered houses, and taken therefrom pri- 
vate property, and appropriated the same to their 
own use; 

" It is therefore ordered, that a copy of Gen- 
eral Order No. 107, current series, from the war 
department, be distributed to every commis- 
sioned oEBcer of this command, and that the 
same be read, together with this order, to each 
company in this department three several times 
at different company roll-calls. 

" II. It is farther ordered, that all complaints 
that private property has been taken from peace- 
able citizens, in contravention of said General 
Order No. 107, be submitted to aboard of sur- 
vey, and that the amount of damage determined 
shall be deducted from the pay of the officers com- 
manding the troops committing the outrage — in 
proportion to their roMk." 

" New Orleans, November 11, 1862. 

" I. Any commissioned officer who is found 
drinking intoxicating liquors in any public drink- 
ing-place or other public house within this de- 
partment, will be recommended to th^ president 
lor dismissal from the service. 

" II. All police-officers are ordered to report 
in writing to these head-quarters all instances 
of the violation of this order, which may come 
under their notice." 

"New Okleans, Juli/ 8, 1862. 
** The acting sutler of the Twenty-sixth regi- 



ment of Massachusetts volunteers will be sent 
home by the first boat as a steerage passenger 
to New York; in the mean time, to be kept in 
close confinement. 

"He has been engaged in selling liquors to 
the soldiers, and speculating upon the flour be- 
longing to the United States. 

•' The provost-marshal will see to the execution 
of this order. 

" By order of Major-Greneral Butler, 

" R. S. Davies, Captain and A. A. A. G.^' 

Another special order may be quoted in this 
connection: "First-Lieutenant T. L. Ljmch, 
quarter-master of Third regiment of Native 
Guards (colored) is hereby reduced to his former 
position as private in the Fifteenth Maine volun- 
teers, for drunkenness in the streets, and in a pub- 
lic dance-house. Quarter-master Sergeant Henry 
C. Wright, Ninth Connecticut Volunteers, is here- 
by appointed first-lieutenant of the Third Native 
Guards, vice Lynch, reduced to the ranks." 

Discipline thus administered produces but one 
result. " The demeanor of our soldiers in New 
Orleans," remarks one disinterested observer, 
" entitles them to the highest encomiums. A 
more quiet, orderly, respectable set of private 
soldiers no army ever contained. Instances of 
rowdyism and intoxication are extremely rare, 
and those few which do occur are promptly and 
severely punished by deprivation of pay and im- 
prisonment. Most of the troops here are of New 
England origin, and certainly they do credit to 
the land of their birth." Nor can we be sur- 
prised to read in the Delta, that after one pay day, 
three hundred thousand dollars were sent home 
in small packages, besides a very large sum 
under the allotment system. 

The general himself noticed the behavior of 
the troops in the special order of .June 14th : 

"Soldiers! Your behavior in New Orleans 
has been admirable! "Withstanding the temp- 
tations of a great city, to present such discipline 
and efficiency is the highest exibition of .soldierly 
qualities. You have done more than win a 
a great battle ; you have conquered yourselves. 
You have convinced the people of New Orleans 
that you are worthy of the flag j'^ou bear in tri- 
umph I He is more of a coward who yields to 
his own weakness, than he who surrenders to 
an enemy! Go on, as you have begun, true to 
your New England training and her religious 
influences, showing the men and women of the 
South that where our bayonets are, there are 
peace, quiet, liberty, safety, and order under the 
law !" 

The devotion of officers and men to a general 
who took their part so well against all enemies, 
was remarkable. Many affecting proofs of this 
devotion could be adduced, but the grownng bulk 
of my manuscript warns me to omit details that 
are not essential. I will transcribe one para- 
graph from a letter wi-itten by a father upon 
hearing that his son, a fine young officer, had 
fallen at his post : 

" Now that all is over, let me say that Henry 
loved you. General ; not with the selfish attach- 
ment of the recipient and expectant of favors, 
but with the devotion that one manly heart feels 
for another. He would have died for you, as he 
would for me or for his mother. I am nothing 
worth now, if I ever was; but, to the end of my 



148 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



days, few or many, and sorrowful they must be, 
I shall remember your kindness to my poor boy 
with the deepest gratitude." 

GENERAL SUTLER'S MODE OF DEALING WITH 
GUERILLAS. 

Before noticing the important military events 
of the campaiffn, we should consider one of the 
commanding general's negative merits. He did 
not conquer more country than he could hold. 
The reason of this caution in an oEBcer so enter- 
prising and so prolific of ideas!, was stated by 
himself in an early dispatch sent to the war de- 
partment. 

" In the present temper of the country here," 
wrote Gen. Butler, June 1st, "it is cruel to take 
possession of any point unless we continue to 
hold it with an armed force ; because, when we 
take possession of any place those well disposed 
will show us kindness and good wishes: the 
moment we leave, a few rufidans come in and 
maltreat every person who has not scowled at 
the Yankees. Therefore it is, that I have been 
very chary of possessing myself of various small 
points which could easily be taken. * * * * 
What I would recommend is, that I be allowed 
to raise here, or have sent me, a force large 
enough to hold, by armed occupation, every 
place of the slightest importance, with a sup- 
porting force that could not be overcome, and 
the country made to pay the expense of such occu- 
pation. A. few months under that regime would 
reduce the people to order, and assure the Union 
men that they are not to be given up to rapine 
and murder in a few days by the retirement of 
our troops. In their present frame of mind, un- 
der the pressure of the orders of Gen. Lovell and 
the Confederate government — to burn all the 
cotton and sugar — such burning will take place 
in advance of my march, wherever I may move, 
entailing great destruction of property upon its 
innocent owners, who, wiih tears m their eyes, 
have entreated me not to advance into certain 
sections of the country lest their property should 
be burned I 

"As an instance of recklessness of troops in 
arms, tiike the following : The river has been 
unusually high, and a crevasse opened at certain 
points would do an immensity of damage. A 
party of forty rebels surprised the train on the 
Opelousas railroad, ran down to within thirteen 
miles of the city on the opposite side of the river, 
and there deliberately cut the levee in six differ- 
ent places. If their design had been carried out, 
they would have drowned out every plantation 
between New Orleans and Fort Jackson, seven- 
ty miles, but not injured the United States; all 
this was done, because tlie planters were sup- 
posed to favor us. Prompt measures were taken 
by me lo prt-vent the injury before it became ir- 
reparable, which proved succes.sful." 

For these reasons, the active operations of the 
army wore confiut'd, at. first, to sudden incursions 
into the enemy's country, either for the purpose 
of rescuing Union men, who were threatened by 
their neighbors witii destruction, or of breaking 
up camps and roving gangs of guerillas. The 
guerillas were numerous, enterprising, and wholly 
devoid of every kind of scruple. They made 
war precisely in the spir.t and in the manner of 
the baud of murderers who recently butchered 



the unresisting business men of Lawrence. At 
that time, too, an act of congress restaained the 
commanders of departments from retaliation upon 
these miscreants. " It is useless," wrote General 
Butler, " to tell me to try them, send the re- 
cord to Washington, and then to shoot them if 
the record is approved. Events travel altogether 
too rapidly for that. In the meantime, they 
hang every Union man they catch, and by their 
proclamations, they threaten to hang every man 
who has my pass. All this, while they are 
prating in the papers, and by the message of 
Davis, about carrying on a civilized warfare." 

The first dash into the inhabited country was 
made by Colonel Kinsman, who went fifty miles 
or more up the Opelousas railroad, to bring away 
the families of some Union men who had fled to 
the city, asking protection. He crossed the 
river to Algiers, and took possession of the dep6t 
and cars. He inquired of the bystanders where 
the engineers were to be found. " There goes 
one," a man replied. Colonel Kinsman hailed 
him, and he approached. A conversation ensued, 
which showed .something of the quality of the 
more demonstrated secesh. Indeed, I allude to 
Colonel Kinsman's excursion, only for the pur- 
of introducing this model of a secessionist engin- 
eer to the admiration of his conntrymen. 

" Are you an engineer ?" asked Colonel Kins- 
man. 

" Yes." 

" Do you run on this road ?" 

"Yes." 

" How long have you been on this road ?" 

" Six years." 

" I want you to run a train of cars for me?" 

" I won't run a train for any damned Yankee." 

" Yes you will," 

"No I won't." 

" You will, and without the slightest accident, 
too." 

" I'll die first." 

" Precisely. You have stated the exact al- 
ternative. The first thing that goes wrong, 
you're a dead man. So march along with us." 

The man obeyed. Upon getting out of bear- 
ing of his townsmen, he appeared more pliant, 
and ihe conversation was resumed. 

" What is your name ?" 

" Pierce." 

" Pierce ? why that is a Yankee name. Where 
were you born?" 

''In Boston." 

" Are you married ?" 

" Yes." 

" Where was your wife born?" 

" At East Cambridge." 

" How long have you been in the South ?" 

" About six years." 

" And you are the man who would'nt run a 
train for a damned Yankee ! You are, indeed, 
a danmed Yankee. Go home, and see thaf you 
are promptly on hand to-morrow morning." 

He was promptly on hand in the morning, ready 
to run the train for his condemned countrymen. 
But as competent engineers were found among the 
troops, it was thought best not to risk the suc- 
cess of the expedition by trusting the renegade, 
and the objects of the party were accomplished 
without his aid. The train ran through the 
Lafourche district, the garden of Louisiana, the 
inhabitants of whicn Colonel Kinsman found to 



MILITAKi OPERATIONS. 



149 



be fierce, uueoiuprotnising foes of the United 
States. At the city of Lafourche he met the 
leading men of the distiict, face to face at the 
court-house. 

" We are united as one man against you," 
said the spokesman of the party. 

" I care not," responded Colonel Kinsman, 
" how united you are, or against what you are 
united ; I have only this to saj- to you, that if 
one more Union man is harmed in Lafourche, 
the town will be burned to the last shed." 

They could not disguise their astonishment at 
the spectacle of a hundred Union troops pene- 
trating a region so populous with enemies. It 
was something they had not in the least ex- 
pected. They were destined, however, to become 
extremely familiar with the dingy blue of the 
federal uniform. 

The case of this Yankee engineer was very far 
from being the only instance of the kind. As a 
rule, the loudest secessionists in Louisiana were 
people of northern birth and education. Several 
of the female teachers in the pubhc schools in 
New Orleans, who were among the most zealous 
in teaching their pujiils to chant the songs of 
Secessia, and to insult the soldiers of the Union 
in the streets, were found to be natives of New 
England. The fact shows how exquisitely 
adapted the system of slavery is to evoke the 
latent baseness of the weak, the vain, and the 
unregenerate. It is, also, another proof that 
renegades ai'e necessarily more zealous than the 
hereditary adherents of a bad cause. 

The dash of Colonel John C. Keith, of the 
Twenty-first Indiana, into the same Lafourche, 
was a most brilliant little affair. He gave a 
lesson to guerillas which Lafourche will never 
forget. He gave a lesson to guerilla hunters 
which, when it is universallj- taken, will soon ex- 
tinguish the last of those savages. 

In the course of the famous hunt after the 
steamer Fox, bj' Colonel M'Millan, a party of 
four sick soldiers had been sent back through 
the Lafourche country. A gang of guerillas, 
inhabitants of the district, la}^ in ambush near 
the road, fired into the wagon in which the sick 
men laj', killed two of them and wounded two. 
The bodies of the murdered men were stripped, 
then kicked and clubbed until thej' had lost 
almost all resemblance to human bodies, and 
finally, thrown by some negroes into a hole two 
feet deep, dug in the verj' public square of the 
town of Houma. The mound of earth heaped 
over them was conspicuous to all residents and 
travelers. One of the wounded men, after 
almost incredible adventures, escaped. The other 
was thrown into a filthy calaboose at Ilouma, 
with a negro convict. 

General Butler sent Colonel Keith, with four 
companies of his regiment, and two pieces of 
Massachusetts artillery, to convey to the people 
of Houma his sense of the moral quality of their 
acts. He ordered Colouel Keith to use his best 
endeavors to arrest the perpetrators; to hang 
them if found ; to arrest the abettors of the butch- 
ery ; and to confiscate or destroj^ the property of 
every man who, in au}' way, before or after the 
deed, nad been a participator in the crime. 

Colonel Keith was the very man for this duty. 
Seldom, m the annals of warfare, do we find an 
account of a piece of work better done. On 
arriving In the vicinity of the town, he arrested 



every man that could be found. Having reached 
Houma, he discovered that most of the inhabi- 
tants had fled ; but all the men that remained he 
seized and securely held. He compelled the 
leading residents of the place to provide suitable 
coffins for the murdered soldiers, to disinter them 
with their own hands, to place them in the coffins, 
and to dig graves for them in the principal church- 
yard. The bodies were then borne to the Catholic 
church, where Lieutenant Rose read over them 
the burial service, in the presence of the whole 
command. They were buried with the usual 
salute, and suitable inscriptions were placed 
over their graves. 

This pious duty being performed. Colonel 
Keith demanded of his prisoners a complete list 
of the names of the men who had participated 
in the ambush and abused the bodies of the two 
soldiers. 

They refused. He then gave them formal, 
written notice, that, unless within the next 
forty-eight hours the names were disclosed, he 
would burn and utterly destroy the town of 
Houma, lay waste all the plantations in the 
viciuit}', and confiscate all the movable property 
to the United States. 

The prisoners being left to their reflections, 
soon came to tenns. They sent for Colouel Keith, 
gave up the names of the murderers, and fur- 
nished information as to the direction of their 
flight. Then ensued, for several days and nights, 
such a scouring of the country for the fugitives, 
as Lafourche had never known before. They 
were traced from plantation to plantation, from 
the open country to the forest, through the forest 
to the bayou. The pursuers found the planters 
haughty and defiant. Several of them boasted 
that they had harbored the fugitives and helped 
them to escape, and refused to reveal the direc- 
tion they had taken. There were five of these 
gentlemen. Colonel Keith swiftly doomed them 
to the penalty of participators after the fact. 
Tlieir houses, barns, shops and stables were 
burned ; their horses, mules and cattle driven 
away; their persons seized and conveyed to New 
Orleans. 

The ringleaders of the ambush contrived to 
elude the pursuit ; but several of the less guilty 
participants were arrested. Before leaving 
Houma, Colonel Keith caused the jail into which 
the wounded soldier had been thrown, to be 
leveled to the ground by battering-rams. He 
hoisted the fiag of the United States upon the 
court-house, and announced to the assembled 
people that its removal would be the signal of 
his return to buru the town. He made a requi- 
sition upon the authorities for a sum of money 
to defray part of the expenses of the expedition. 
Finally, he heaped burning coals upon the sore 
heads of the residents of Houma by distributing 
among the sufi'ering poor of the town a consider- 
able quantity of provisions, and leaving behind 
him for their benefit a drove of confiscated cattle. 

That is General Butler's idea of guerilla hunt- 
ing. The highest praise that can be bestowed 
upon Colonel Keith's conduct was that vouch- 
safed by a rebel critic, who remarked that Keitk 
was little better than Butler himself The 
reader now knows one of the reasons why 
Colonel Keith's application for leave of absence 
was so agreeably indorsed by his chief. 

The command of the lakes gave the Union 



150 



MILITAEY OPERATIONS. 



forces an advantage over the guerillas which was 
frequently used with effect. There was a trou- 
blesome crew of guerillas near Manchac Pass, at 
the beginning of June, who plundered the neigh- 
boring plantations. Colonel Kimball, of the 
Twelfth Maine, landed four companies of his 
regiment in the vicinity, and pounced upon the 
position, driving out the rebel troops and captur- 
ing all their camp equipage, artillery, and colors, 
as well as a general officer, with his valise full 
of Confederate recruiting money. 

NEW ORLEANS THREATENED. 

The attention of the commanding general, in 
July, was drawn to more important afi'airs than 
these. Rebel troops were concentrating at va- 
rious points in menacing proximity to Baton 
Rouge and New Orleans. Breckinridge, the 
general's sometime political chietj now appeared 
in the field as his principal military adversary. 
The rebel ram Arkansas was reported by Cap- 
tain Porter to be " above water," and capable of 
doing mischief. The spies of the general con- 
tinually reported movements of rebel troops, and 
everything betokened that the project of expel- 
ling the " ruthless invaders" was about to be at- 
tempted. The preliminary stroke was to fall 
upon Baton Rouge, which was to be assailed by 
Breckinridge on land, and by the ram Arkansas 
from the river. The attack was made on the 
5th of August. The country well remembers 
how gallantly it was repulsed in one of the best 
contested actions of the war, and how the ram 
Arkansas ran aground, and was shot to pieces 
and blown up by the Union gun-boats. I need 
not detail the story of that memorable day ; but 
there were some circumstances attending the 
battle not generally known, which may be pro- 
fitably noted by military men. 

The papers before me show how extremely 
difiScult it is for commanding generals to procure 
information trustworthy enough to base opera- 
tions upon. Both generals were deceived on 
this occasion. General Butler, though no man 
ever had a better spy system than he, or paid 
more liberally for intelligence, was misled by his 
spies into supposing that the attack had been 
deferred ; and he wrote to General Williams to 
that etfect, only two days before the battle, ex- 
horting him, however, not to relax his vigilance. 
General Breckinridge, on the contrary, was de- 
ceived by intelligence that was perfectly ti-ue. 
The secessionists of Baton Rouge, who mingled 
daily with the Union troops, told Breckinridge, 
and told him truly, that more than one-half of 
the troops were on the sick-list. They told him, 
and it was a fact, that one regiment, si.x hundred 
strong, only nmstered one hundred and fifty on 
dress parade, and that other regiments were in 
a similar condition. But they did not tell him 
that those patriotic troops, debilitated by the 
summer heats, and too sick to appear on the 
parade-ground, were well enough to figiit a bat- 
tle for their country. They did not tell him that 
that very regiment, which could only muster a 
hundred and fifty men at dress parade, would 
turn out more than five hundred on the day of 
battle. He expected to meet skeleton regiments 
of skeleton soldiers: he met regiments with full 
rank.s, stanch and steady. His friends told him 
where the sick regiments were to be posted, and 
he directed his main attack against that part of 



the field. It is said that the reason why he 
threw away his sword, in a paroxysm of disgust, 
was not the loss of the battle, but a conviction 
that he had been deceived and betrayed by the 
people of Baton Rouge. His sword was found 
on the field with his name engraved on the hilt. 

The death of General Williams, on this bloody 
day, was a grievous loss to the department and 
the country. He was not a popular officer, ex- 
cept in the hour of danger. The rigor of his 
discipline would not have lessened the good-will 
of his command toward him, for soldiers love a 
strict disciplinarian. Soldiers, indeed, will never 
long love an officer who is not inflexible in his 
administration of military law. But the manner 
of this heroic man was sometimes ungracious ; 
and, perhaps, he allowed his keen sense of the 
defects of the volunteer system to be too mani- 
fest. But on the day of battle only his great 
qualities were remembered, and every soldier 
felt that what General Williams ordered to be 
done was, infallibly, the movement which the 
moment required. Toward the close of the en- 
gagement, he came up to a regiment which had 
lost every field officer, and a large number of 
the company officers. 

" We have no officers, General," said some of 
the men. 

''Forward! my brave Indianians," he cried: 
" I will lead 3'ou myself." 

At that instant, a ball pierced his breast, and 
ho fell never to rise again. 

The manner in which General Butler com- 
memorated the conduct of his victorious troops 
merits the attention of readers. A general order 
was dedicated to the memoiy of General Wil- 
liams: 

"New Orlbass, Auguxt 7, 1862. 

" The commanding general announces to the 
army of the gulf the sad event of the death of 
Brigadier-General Thomas Williams, command- 
ing Second brigade, in camp at Baton Rouge. 

" The victorious achievement — the repulse of 
the division of Major- General Breckinridge, by 
the troops led on by General Williams, and the 
destruction of the mail-clad Arkansas, by Cap- 
tain Porter, of the navy — is made sorrowful by 
the fall of our brave, gallant and successful fel- 
low-soldier. 

" General Williams graduated at West Poinr 
in 1837 ; at once joined the Fourth artillery in 
Florida, where he served with distinction ; was 
thrice breveted for gallant and meritorious ser- 
vices in Mexico, as a member of General Scott'.^ 
staff. His life was that of a soldier devoted tn 
his country's service. His country mourns in 
sympathy with his wife and children, now thai 
country's care and precious charge. 

" We, his companions in arms, who had 
learned to love him, weep the true ^riend, tha 
gallant gentleman, the brave soldier, the accom- 
plished officer, the pure patriot and victorioas 
liero, and the devoted Christian. All, and more, 
went out when Williams died. By a singular 
felicity, the manner of his death illustrated each 
of these generous qualities. 

" The chivalric American gentleman, he gave 
up the vantage of the cover of the houses of the 
city — forming his lines in the open field — lest 
the women and children of his enemies should 
be hurt -. the fi-ht ! 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



151 



■" A good general, he made his disposil ions 
and prepared for battle at the break of day, when 
he met his foe ! 

" A brave soldier, he received his death-shot 
leading his men I 

" A patriot hero, he was fighting the battle of 
his country, and died as went up the cheer of 
victory 1 

" A Christian, he sleeps in the hope of a bles- 
sed Redeemer ! 

" His virtues we cannot exceed — his example 
we may emulate ; and, mourning his death, we 
pray, ■'may our last end be like his.' 

"The customary tribute. of mourning will be 
worn by the officei-s in the department." 

The funeral was celebrated in New Orleans, 
with all the pomp and solemnity which the re- 
sources of the department permitted. General 
Butler noticed, as he passed the British con- 
sulate, that the flag of the consulate was not 
lowered as the procession moved by. He sent 
to know why the customary tribute of respect 
had been omitted. Mr. Coppell explained the 
omission satisfactorily ; he was absent from his 
office, and was not aware that the funeral was 
to take place that day. 

Another general order was issued a day or 
two after the funeral, which gave a characteristic 
aummary of the fight. 

" New Orleaks, August 9, 1862. 
" Soldiers of the Army of the Gulf: 

" Your successes have heretofore been sub- 
stantially bloodless. 

"Taking and holding the most important 
strategic and commercial positions with the aid 
of the gallant navy, by the wisdom of your 
combinations and the moral power of your arms, 
it has been left for the last few days to baptize 
you in blood. 

"The Spanish conqueror of Mexico won im- 
perishable renown by landing in that country 
and burning his transport ships, to cut off" all 
hope of retreat. You, more wise and economi- 
cal, but with equal providence against retreat, 
sent youi'S home. 

" Organized to operate on the sea-coast, you 
advanced your outposts to Baton Rouge, the 
<^pital of the state of Louisiana, more than two 
hundred and fifty miles into the interior. 

" Attacked there by a division of our rebel 
enemies, under command of a major-general re- 
creant to loyal Kentucky, whom some of us 
would have honored before his apostasy, of 
<*oubly superior numbers, you have repulsed in 
the open field his myrmidons, who took advan- 
tage of your sickness, from the malaria of the 
marshes of Vicksburg, to make a cowardly 
attack. 

" The iferigade at Baton Rouj^ had routed the 
enemy, 

" He has lost three brigadier-generals, killed, 
wounded and prisoners ; many colonels and 
fleld officers. He has more than a thousand 
killed and wounded. 

'' You have captured three pieces of artillery, 
six caissons, two stand of colors, and a large 
number of prisoners. 

" You have buried his dead on the field of 
battle, and are caring for his wounded. You 
have convinced him that you are never so sick 



as not to fight your enemy if he desires the 
contest. 

" You have shown him that if he can not take 
an outpost after weeks of preparation, what 
would be his fate with the main body. If your 
genera! should say he was proud of you, it 
would only be to praise himself; but he will 
say, he is proud to be one of you. 

" In this battle, the northeast and the north- 
west mingled their blood on the field — as they 
had long ago joined their hearts — in the support 
of the Union. 

" Michigan stood by Maine, Massachussetts 
supported Indiana, "Wisconsin aided Vermont, 
while Connecticut, represented by the sous of 
the ever green shamrock, fought as tlieir fathers 
did at the Boyne Water. 

" While we mourn the loss of many brave 
comrades, we, who were absent, envy them the 
privilege of dying upon the battle-field for our 
country, under the starry folds of her victorious 
flag. 

" The colors and guidons of the several corps 
engaged in the contest will have inscribed on 
them — ' Baton Rouge.' 

" To complete the victory, the iron-clad 
steamer Arkansas, the last naval hope of the re- 
bellion, hardly awaited the gallant attack of the 
Essex, but followed the example of her sisters, 
the Merrimac, the Manassas, and the Louisiana, 
by her own destruction." 

The repulse at Baton Rouge changed the plans 
of the rebel leaders ; but did not induce them to 
give up their main design. General Butler him- 
self had no fear for the safety of New Orleans. 
He fully expected an attack, however, and dis- 
posed his forces to meet it, even withdrawing 
the troops from Baton Rouge, and leaving it to 
the custody of the gun-boats. But the Confede- 
rate leaders, before the month of September was 
ended, abandoned their scheme. The Union 
army in New Orleans had been recruited by 
white and colored troops, and at whatever point 
the enemy "felt" the Union lines, tliey found 
them unyielding to the touch. 

MORE OP THE GUERILLA WARFARE. 

The absurd guerilla warfare, however, was 
never intermitted. I call it absurd, because 
while it was fomented by the Confederate gov- 
ernment, and encouraged by its non-combatant 
partisans, it was more destructive of rebel pro- 
perty than injurious to the United States. It is 
melancholy to read the reports of officers who 
commanded parties sent against the bandits who 
were ravaging Louisiana. Major F. H. Peck, of 
the Twelfth Connecticut, who spent a week in 
the early part of August, in guerilla hunting on 
the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, found every- 
where the traces of indiscriminate plunder and 
destruction. 

Ascending the Pearl river, he says, " We 
f )und the people in great destitution, and beset 
by plunderers on every side." Again, at Pass 
Christian : " We found the place deserted by 
nearly all its population, who, as from other 
towns we visited, are daily flying by boat-loads 
to avoid impressment into the Confederate ser- 
vice. They are destitute of the necessaries of 
life." " At Shields's Bow, outrages too gross fbr 



152 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



description have been recently perpetrated by 
truerillas, who find apologists among the most 
prominent citizens of the place." " At Louis- 
burgh all the docks and buildings were burned 
by a party of guerillas two weelis since. It will 
cost many thousand dollars to rebuild them." 
" Madisonville was deserted, and nearly every 
public and private building closed." " In many 
places flour had not been seen for months." 
" "We met large numbers flying to the protection 
of the federal armv, and at each place visited by 
us, without e-xception, we were besought by 
men and women for passage to New Orleans. 
At several places we were asked to leave troops 
for protection against their professed friends." 
" Authorized and commissioned as the guerillas 
are, they are actuated by no motive but plunder; 
they fight only from ambuscade, and war indis- 
criminately upon friend and foe." 

So it was in Spain, wlien the Spanish people 
asked Marshal Soult for protection against their 
own guerillas. Mexico tells the same story. So 
it is now in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and 
Virginia. The world will never know what the 
people of the South have suffered, and are suffer- 
ing, from bandits bearing the authorization of 
the rebel government, and carrying the ugly flag 
of organized treason. 

Through this starving land streamed inces- 
santly droves of cattle from Texas for the rebel 
armies. There is one ferry upon the Mississippi 
over which, it is computed, two hundred thou- 
sand Texan cattle were carried during the first 
eighteen months of the war. A few days after 
Major Peck's return, Colonel S. Thomas, of the 
Eighth Vermont dashed nortliward, with a force 
of cavalry and artillery, and captured a drove of 
fifteen hundred cattle from Texas, and brought 
them all safely within tlie Union lines. 

One of these raids into the enemy's country 
I will relate with a little more detail. It was 
the most daring little enterprise of the campaign, 
and well illustrated the splendid valor of the 
ofiScer who commanded it, the late General George 
C. Strong. I little thought, when I heard him 
tell the story in his gay and sprigiitly manner, a 
few days before his departure for Charleston, 
that before the tale could get into print, his eyes 
would be closed for ever. He died as he wished 
to die, and as he meant to die. " I shall not 
die by disease," he said to a friend, who spoke 
to him upon his health, aboiat the time of tliis 
exploit in Louisiana. In war, the more valuable 
a life is, the more likely it is to be lost, and 
never was a life more lavishly risked tliau his. 

General Jelf. Thompson, who commanded the 
rebel (brces near the shores of Lake Pontchar- 
train, is an officer of a humorous turn of mind. 
He had written som.e saucy notes to General 
Butler, during the summer, one of which has 
been given in a previous chapter. He was, also, 
the animating spirit of the warfare which de- 
vastated the country in the vicinity ot'his camp, 
and commanded part of the forces designed to 
invest New Orleans. Major Strong learned from 
the Union spies that the liead-quarters of tliis 
merry cliieftain were at llie village of Poneha- 
toula, where he had but two companies of in- 
fantry, and no caunon, the main camp being 
nine miles to tiie north of it. At Poucliatoula, 
also, were depots of supplies, a post-office, and a 
telegraph-office, the sudden seizure of which 



might disclose valuable information. The viH- 
lage was six miles from the Tangipalio river, a 
navigable stream. Major Strong conceived the 
project of ascending this river in a steamboat, 
landing a force soon after miduiglit,^ surprising 
the village at daybreak, capturing the general, 
tlie letters and the dispatches-, diestroying the 
supplies, and beating a hasty retreat to the 
steamer before the alarm could reach, the main 
body of the enemy. 

At four in the afternoon of September ]!3y 
three companies of the Twelfth Maine, under 
Captain Thornton, Captain Farcington^ and Cap- 
tain Winter, and one comjpany of the Twenty- 
sixth Massachu3ett.s,. under Captain Pickering, 
embarked on board the Ceres. At eleven in 
the evening the steamer readied the moutii of 
the Tangipaho, and grounded on the fear. When,, 
after a severe struggle, this obstacle had been 
overcome, the boat pusiied up. the narrow, wind- 
ing river four miles ; wiien it was one o'clock — 
loo late for the contemplated surprise. Major 
Strong determined to wait till the next night, 
and returned to the mouth of the river. To pre- 
vent the sending of intelligence to the enemy, 
he directed Lieutenant Martin toi collect and 
bring in every small boat on tiie Tangipaho. 

Lieutenant Martin, a very young officer, fresh, 
from a comfortable home in New York, who had 
volunteered to serve as aid to the commander of 
the party, had a view of the horrors of war in 
performing this duty, which he will never for- 
get, if he should live to be a lieutenanl-generaJ. 
The shores of the river, in the dim light of the 
morning, presented to his view nothing but deso- 
lation. Many of the houses were deserted, and 
every garden and field lay waste. Gaunt, yel- 
low, silent figures stood looking at the passiug 
boat, images of despair. The people there had 
been small farmers, market-gardeners, fishermen, 
and shell-diggers; all of them being absolutely 
dependent upon the market of New Orleans, 
from which they had been cut off for four months. 
Roving bauds of guerillas and the march of 
regiments had robbed them of the last pig, the 
last chicken, the last egg, and even of their half- 
grown vegetables. In all that region there was 
nothing to eat but corn on tiie cob, and of that 
only a few pecks in each house. Lieutenant 
Martin was hailed from one of the houses': 

"There's a child dyin^' here. For God's sak» 
send a doctor asiiore to save it !" 

Tlie nature of the dutj' he was upon forbade 
delay ; but, as he was returning, an hour later, 
with liis fleet of boats, he stopped at the house. 
The corpse of a girl, ten years old, wasted to a 
skeletou, lay upon a bed in the cabin. Wasted 
as she was, it was evident that she had been a 
pretty, refined-looking girl. 

" Of what did slie die?" 

•' We had nothing to give her but corn and 
fre.sh fish. We had no medicine. She could 
not eat what we had. She starved for want of 
proper food. That's what siie died of." 

It was an awful scene — the white skeleton 
upon the bed; the sullen, hungry, despairing 
family, standing silently around ; the bare, 
comfortless room; the utter devastation with- 
out. 

The young officer was obliged to tell them 
that he must have their boat. 

'• If you do," said one of them, "we shall all 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



15S 



starve, for we live on fish, and without a boat 
we can get no fish." 

The boat had to be taken, but it was returned 
within twenty-four hours; and, in the mean 
time, Lieutenant Martin sent them a week's 
provisions. Tliey seemed reheved when he left 
them, fearing to be "compromised" by his 
pre.'^ence. On slijj^hter grounds than the chance 
visit of a Union oflBcer, the guerillas had burned 
houses and heaped every kind of outrage upon 
the heads of helple-s and unoffending people. 
Terror evidently possessed every mind. One 
man on the Tatigipaho, of whom some slight 
service was requested, replied to Major Strong : 

" I'll do it, if you will agree to take me away 
with you. If you leave me here, I'm a dead 
man before your steamboat is out of sight." 

The Ceres could not ascend the river to the 
point proposed. Major Strong then steamed to 
Manchac bridge, the terminus of a railroad that 
led to Ponchatoula, ten miles distant. He had 
resolved, rather than return to New Orleans de- 
feated, to marcli along this railroad, and fall upon 
the place iu open day. With two companies 
only, those of Captain Thornton and Captain 
Harrington, numbering one hundred and twelve 
men, he started soon after sunrise. It was one 
of the hottest days of a Louisiana summer, with- 
out a breath of wind to temper the blistering 
rays of the sun. The path lay through a wooded 
swamp, and the railroad being laid upon trestle- 
work, the march was difficult and laborious in 
the extreme. Tiiose huge lumbermen of Maine 
sank under the blazing iieat. Four were sun- 
struck. Many fell tlirough the trestles, and had 
to be hoisted out of the swamp by their comrades. 
They saw but one human being on the way. 
As they were sweltering slowly and silently 
along, tlie grinning face of a negro emerged from 
the bushes in the swamp. He waved his old 
hat above his head, and shouted, 

" Hurrah 1 I always said the Yankees would 
come — and here you is!" 

They were more than four hours in marching 
the ten miles. About eleven o'clock they began 
to see signs of the village. Anotlier negro here 
darted from behind a cur tliat was standing on 
the track : 

" Don't go no furder, master," said he to the 
major, " they've got cannon — they'll kill you all 
shore." 

The party pushed on. They soon descried a 
locomotive slowly backing toward the village, 
the engineer striving to get up steam. A dozen 
muskets were tired at him. He did not fall, but 
continued to recede with increasing velocity, and 
backed through the village, and beyond the vil- 
lage toward Camp Moore, screaming the alarm. 
There was no time to be lost. Major Strong 
ranged a file of men across the railroad, to hide 
the smallness of his force, while he formed his 
troops. They advanced at the double-quick, 
which soon became a full run, and so rushed in- 
to the village. The negro was right — the enemy 
had cannon. A blast of canister greeted the 
panting troops, and laid Captain Thornton low, 
with three balls in his body and tour more 
through his clothes. Most of this canister, how- 
over, went crashing through a house in which 
many women had taken refuge, who came 
screaming into the street, and ran wildly about 
between the two hostile bodies. Major Strong 



halted his men, and made new dispositions with 
admirable coolness. One company he moved to- 
the right, the other to the left; and both, from 
partial cover or from advantageous ground, 
poured a steady fire into- the ranks of the foe. 
For a few minutes the action was exceedingly 
sharp. Of Major Strong's 112 men. 33 were 
killed or wounded. Twice the enemy fled and ral- 
lied. But, within fifteen minutes from the mo- 
ment when the Union column entered the place, 
the rebel force, three hundred in number and six 
pieces of artillery, abandoned, the village in hope- 
less confusion. 

But the bird had flown. Jeft'. Thompson had 
left the evening before. His sword, his spurs,, 
liis bridle, his papers, were seized. Tliese only 
— not his clothing and personal effects. The 
post-ofSce and telegraph-office were searched. 
A large quantity of old U. S. postage stamps,, 
and a considerable number of letters and dis- 
patches were found and brought away. Twenty 
car loads of supplies were burnt. The telegraph- 
instruments were broken to pieces. 

As there were some thousands of rebel troops- 
within nine miles of Ponchatoula, and a locomo- 
tive had carried the alarm thither. Major Strong 
was compelled to deny himself the pleasure of a 
long stay in the village. The weary tramp on 
the trestle-work was resumed. Several of the 
severely wounded were left behind — Captains 
Thornton among them. The gallant Captain 
was exchanged a few days after; he recovered 
from his wounds, and returned to his regiment. 
Before the troops had gone two miles from the- 
village, down came a train of platform cars, with 
a howitzer upon each of them and men to work 
it. But Major Strong, who had anticipated a 
movement of that nature, had removed some raila 
from the track, and caused them to be carried 
along with the troops. The howitzer.s, therefore, 
played upon the slowly retiring column from a 
distance which rendered their fire ineflectual. 

It was terrible, that march back to the steam- 
boat. The men were exhaiisted to the degree 
that they begged and implored to be left behind. 
One young officer, deaf to the word of command 
and to the voice of entreaty. Major Strong could 
only rouse from the last stupor of fatigue by vio- 
lently kicking him as he lay across the track. 
Nothing saved the command fiom destruction, 
but a drenching shower, which put new life into 
them all, and enabled them to drag their weary 
limbs to the boat before dark. 

General Butler characterized this incursion as- 
"one of the most daring and successful exploits 
of the war, equal in dash, spirit, and cool cour- 
age, to anything attempted on either side. Ma- 
jor Strong and his officers and men deserve great 
credit. It may have been a little too daring, 
perhaps rash, but that has not been an epidemic 
fault with our officers." 

No man wlio went with this expedition was 
surprised at the promotion of Major Strong to tho 
rank of brigadier-general ; still less at his splen- 
did heroism in Charleston harbor. He was ex- 
pressly formed to lead a forlorn hope upon an 
enterprise that was only one remove from tho 
impossible. Like Winthrop, and so many oihei' 
gallant spirits, he had given his life to his 
country long before the moment when the gifd 
was accepted. 



154 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 



CONQUEST OF LAFOURCHE. 

When the enemy had ceased to threaten New 
Orleans and its outposts, General Butler deemed 
it prudent to extend the area of conquest by re- 
annexing the Lafourche district to the United 
Statea A brigade of infantry, with the requisite 
artillery, and a body of cavalry, under an able 
and enterprising officer, Captain Perkins, was 
placed under the command of General Weitzel 
for this purpose. General Weitzel penetrated 
this wealthy and populous region in the last 
week of October. A series of rapid marches, 
one spirited action, and a number of minor com- 
bats, placed him in complete and permanent 
possession of the country in four days. 

It was here that the negro question presented 
itself so appallingly to the mind of the com- 
mander of the invading force. "What shall I 
■do about the negroes ?" he wrote to head-quar- 
ters, October 29th. " You can form no idea of 
the vicinity of my camp, nor can you form au 
idea of the appearance of my brigade as it mar- 
ched down the bayou. My train was larger 
than an army train for 25,000 men. Every sol- 
dier had a negro marching in the flanks, carrying 
Jhis knapsack. Plantation carts, filled with negro 
women and children, with their efifects ; and of 
■course compelled to pillage for their subsistence, 
as I have no rations to issue to them. I have a 
great many more negroes in my camp now than 
I have whites. * * These negroes are a per- 
fect nuisance." 

And the next morning a party of General 
Weitzei's troops captured four hundred wagon 
loads of negroes, which the enemy were attempt- 
ing to carry with them in their retreat. There 
were in the whole district about 6,000 slaves, all 
of whom were in a ferment, and for the moment 
useless ; especially in the neighborhood whence 
almost the whole white population had fled. 

For several days it could be truly said of La- 
fourche that chaos had come again. But Gen- 
eral Butler's abandoned plantation system was 
soon in operation, and restored the community 
to a tolerable degree of order and safely. The 
standing cane was gathered ; the sugar-mills 
were set going ; the negroe.s were merrily work- 
ing at ten dollars a mouth ; and the United 
States were reaping some of the advantage of 
their labor. A considerable number of the ne- 
groes, freed by the confiscation act, found the 
way into their regiments of " Native Guards," a 
procedure that was not pleasing in the sight of 
General Weitzel. 

By the conquest of Lafourche, an immense 
amount of properly liable to confiscation fell into 
the hands of the commanding general. The people 
who remained on the plantations made haste to en- 
deavor to save their property b}' making fictitious 
transfers. Some of the officers of the invading force, 
finding large quantities of sugar lying about loose, 
which the owners were only too glad to sell at any 
price, caught the fever of speculation, and bought 
sugar to the extent of their means. General 
Butler visited the principal camp of occupation, 
and soon learned what was going on. Feeling 
that the whole army was in danger of demoral- 
ization if this spec\ilalion in sugar, and in com- 
modities more portable, was allowed to continue, 
he delerramed to apply a sweeping remedy. He 
d'jvised a scheme, which not only^slopped this 



irregular speculation, but poured the whole of 
the proceeds of the forfeited property into the 
public treasury. He sequestered the entire dis- 
trict, and all that it contained, subject to the 
final adjudication of a commission of officers. 

For six weeks the commissioners were em- 
ployed in applying the confiscation act to the 
property in Lafourche, in establishing the loose 
negroes upon the abandoned lands, and in re- 
storing to Union men their temporarily seques- 
tered estates. 

The chief labor of the commission devolved 
upon Colonel Kinsman, as his associates had al- 
ready their hands full of occupation. When the 
people came crowding about him professing loy- 
alty to the Union, he reminded them that he 
had had the pleasure of visiting Lafourche in 
the month of May, when he had been informed 
that the inhabitants of Lafourche were united as 
one man against tlie United States. He gave 
them to understand that the taking of the oath of 
allegiance, at the last moment, by men who had 
given a thousand proofs of their complicity with 
treason, was not enough to secure their property 
from confiscation. The strict observance of this 
rule added, in the course of time, about a million 
dollars to the revenue of the United States, and 
deprived a large number of rebels of the means 
of doing harm. Colonel Kinsman Lad a most 
difficult duty to perform ; one that tasked equally 
his sagacity and his firmness ; and one that he 
shrank from undertaking. He acquitted himself 
well. Ho executed the order and the law with 
care and fidelity, and won the approval of all 
disinterested persons who had the means of 
judging his conduct. Some of the military spec- 
ulators in sugaa* grumbled at the rigor of de- 
cisions which deprived them of anticipated gain, 
and all the victims of the confiscation act ab- 
horred the ofiicer who executed it. But the 
friends of the Union observed with admiration 
his tact and patience in investigating, and the im- 
partial justice of his awards. A corrupt man in 
his situation could have made a fortune with ab- 
solute security against detection. He forebore 
even to buy a hogshead of confiscated sugar, 
which he would have liked to send as a present 
to his New England home, lest he should give a 
pretext for the tongue of slander. 

Every dollar's worth of confiscated property 
was sold at New Orleans at public auction, of 
which previous notice was publicly given. No 
man had the slightest advantage over another 
in purchasing, and the entire proceeds of the 
sales were paid into the public treasury. 

Every secessionist in Louisiana will tell you 
to-day, that this pure and faithful officer retired 
from Lafourche a millionaire. They will also as- 
sure you that the rest of the proceeds of the con- 
fiscated property were divided between General 
Butler and his brother. They really believe that 
the general sent at least two millions away for 
investment during the eight months of his ad- 
ministration. 

Such were the principal military operations in 
the department of the gulf If they were less 
splendid than those of other fields, if they were 
not all that the circumstances invited and re- 
quired, it can be truly said that they were all 
that the force at the disposal of the commanding 
general permitted. What could be prudently 
attempted was handsomely done. In Novem- 



ROUTINE OF A DAY IN NEW ORLEANS. 



155 



ber General Butler, if he had dared to leave 
New Orleans inadequately defended for ten days, 
would have nipped Port Hudson in the bud. 
He dared not, with the force at his command, 
risk the tempting enterprise. And when, after 
months of waiting and beseeching- for re-enforce- 
ments, re-enforcements arrived, they came pro- 
vided with a major-general. 

Much of the success of General Butler in his 
department was owing to the fact that he con- 
trived, in spite of opposing influences in Massa- 
chusetts, to take with him many officers of his 
own selection — men whom he understood, and 
who were peculiarly adapted to render him 
efficient service. Several of these officers served 
long without commission and without pay. 
They were afterward commissioned by a stroke 
of General Butler's legal legerdemain. They were 
appointed to positions on the stafl" of some other 
major-general, not of Massachusetts, and then 
"assigned" to the staff of General Butler. 

The general, however, was most ably assisted 
by the officers of his command, generally. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ROUTINE OF A DAY IN NEW ORLEANS. 

A Major-General commanding, aa modern 
warfare is conducted, is in danger of becoming 
the slave of the desk. He carries a sword in 
obedience to custom, but the instrument that he 
is most familiar with is that one, which, ' emi- 
nent tragedians' saj-, is mightier than the sword. 
The quantity of writing required for the business 
of a division stationed in a quiet district is very 
great. But in such a department as that of the 
Gulf in 1862, a general must manage well, or he 
will find himself reduced to the condition of the 
' sole editor and proprietor' of a daily newspaper. 
His life will resolve itself into a vain straggle to 
keep down his pile of unanswered letters. Gen- 
eral Butler employed seven clerks at head- 
quarters; he had, also, the assistance of the 
younger members of his staff; but, with all this 
force of writers to assist him, he wrote or dic- 
tated more hours in the twenty-four than pro- 
fessional writers usually do. 

Let us see how the day went in New Orleans. 

From eight to nine in the morning. General 
Butler usually received ladies at his residence, 
who desired to avoid the publicity of the office 
at the Custom-House, or who had communica- 
tions to make of a coufideiitial nature. At nine, 
he went, in some state, to his public office. On 
his appearance at the front door, the guard, 
drawn up before the house, saluted, and the 
general entered his carriage, two orderlies being 
mounted on the box. The same ceremonial was 
observed when he entered the Custom-House. 
The six mounted orderlies, employed in con- 
veying messages and orders, wore drawn up 
before the principal entrance, and saluted the 
general. On his way to his own apartment, ho 
had to pass through the court-rooin in which 
Major Bell was dispensing justice to the people 
of New Orleans. The major remarked the good 
effect it had upon the spectators to see the 
commander of the department remove his cap, 
as he entered the court-room, and bow to the 



presiding judge. On reaching his office, the 
general would find from one hundred to two 
hundred people, in and around the adjoining 
rooms, waiting to see him. 

The office was a large room, furnished with 
little more than a long table and a few chairs. 
In one corner, behind the table, sat unobserved, 
a short-hand reporter, who, at a signal from the 
general, would take down the examination of an 
applicant or an informer. The general began busi- 
ness by placing his pistol upon the table, within 
easy reach. After the detection of two or three 
plots to assassinate him, one of the aids caused a 
little shelf to be made under the table for the 
pistol, while another pistol, unloaded, lay upon 
the table, which any gentleman, dispo.sed to 
attempt the game of assassination, was at liberty 
to snatch. 

That single loaded pistol, carried in a pocket 
or laid upon a shelfj was General Butler's sole 
precaution against assassination in a community 
of whom a majority would have treated his mur- 
derer as a patriotic hero, and rewarded him with 
honor and with wealth. But that precaution 
sufficed. Chance gave him the reputation of 
being a dead shot, and every man who observed 
his movements could nifer that his handling of 
his pistol would be quick and dexterous. He 
was riding along one day, with a namerous 
retinue, where some orange trees, loaded with 
fruit, hung over a wall. As he rode by he took 
out his pistol, and aiming it at a twig which sus- 
tained three fine oranges, severed the twig and 
brought the game rolling on the round. It was 
a chance shot, which, probably, he could not 
not have equaled in ten trials. But it answered 
the purpose of giving the impression that he was 
the best shot in New Orleans. Yet, it was sur- 
prising that no one attempted his assassination. 
He went everywhere with one attendant, or 
with none. His apparent carelessness was a 
daily invitation to the assassin. 

Another member of the staff, of a mischievous 
turn, had exercised his talents in printing, in 
largo letters, the following scntenc«_ legible to all 
visitors, on the wall of the room : 

"TUERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HE 
AND A SHE ADDER IN THEIR VENOM." 

Mrs. Philips, and other ladies of a similar dis- 
position, would glare at the legend indignantly, 
as though this simple statement of a fact in 
natural history had some special reference to 
them. 

There was another little contrivance, which I 
believe was an achievement of tiie general's own 
genius. Some of his Creole visitors, and some 
of the Israelitish money-changers wlio came to 
him, were adicted to the u.se of garlic — a fact 
which did not render a close confidential inter- 
view with them so desirable as a conference from 
a point more remote. Consequently, the chair 
provided for tiie use of such persons was tied by 
the leg to the leg of the table, so that it could 
not be drawn very near the one occupied by the 
general. The anxious petitioner, not observing 
the cord, was likely to open the conference by 
throwing the chair over. Others, who succeeded 
in seating themselves without this embarrassing 
catastropiie, found all their attempts to edge up 
confidentially to the general's ear unavailing. 
This invention saved the general from the fumea 



156 



ROUTINE OF A DAY IN NEW ORLEANS. 



of garlic, and compelled the visitor to speak i 
loud enough for the reporter to hear him. 

The general being seated in his chair behind 
the table, with his artillery in position, lieads of 
departments were first admitted, such as the 
medical director and the chief of police. Their 
reports having been received and acted upon, the 
chiefs of the Relief Commission and the Labor 
Commission entered and reported. Next to 
them such persons as consuls and bank directors. 
The first hour of the morning was usually con- 
sumed in conference with these and other im- 
portant ofBcial individuals. Then the public 
were admitted, tliirty at a time, who stood in a 
semi-circle before the table. The general would 
begin at one end of the line, and ask: 

" What do you want ?" 

They wanted everything that creature ever 
wanted : a pass to go beyond the lines ; an 
order on the relief committee for food ; protection 
against a hard landlord ; a permit to search for a 
slave; aid to recover a debt; the arbitration of 
a dispute ; payment of a claim against the gov- 
ernment ; the restoration of forfeited property ; 
the suppression of a nuisance ; employment in 
the public offices ; a gift of money ; information 
on points of law; protection against a cruel 
master. Others came to give information, or to 
wreak an inexpensive revenge by denouncing 
a private foe as a public enemy. The general 
devoted an average of twenty seconds to the 
consideration of each. A few, short, sharp, inci- 
sive questions, and then the decision, clear as 
yes or no could make it. And the decision once 
pronounced, there was not another syllal^le to 
be said. Every one got at least an answer, 
and the answer was generally riglit. Under the 
fire of General Butler's cross-questioning, the 
subterfuges and evasions of the unskillful rebels 
melted rapidly away, and the truth stood out 
clear and unmistakable. Sometimes when a 
man had been detected in a falsehood, he would 
try again. 

" Well, General, I own it was a lie, but now I 
am going to tell tiie truth." 

It happened, not unfrequently, that the gen- 
eral would overturn, by an adroit question or 
two, the second version of the tale, and the man 
would essay a third time, calling all the saints 
to witness that now, at last, the pure truth 
should be told, and then immediately coin a new 
series of falsehoods, to be instantly detected by 
the general. Scenes of this kind occurred so 
often, tliat it became a by-word at head-quarters : 
" Now I am going to tell you the truth." 

At eleven o'clock, the door being closed to 
miscellaneous applicants, the letters of the day 
were placed upon the table opened, to the num- 
ber of eighty or a hundred. The general read 
over each, and disposed of most of them by 
Avriting a word or two on the back, "yes." " no," 
"gran'^ed," "refused ;" in accordance with which 
the answer was prepared by clerk or secretary. 
Others were reserved for consideration or for 
answer by the general's own liand. Military 
business was next iu order, which brought him 
to the hungry hour of one. After luncheon, 
the writing of reports and letters occupied the 
time till half-past four. Then home to dinner. 
From half-past five till dark, the general was on 
horseback, reviewing a regiment here, visiting 
mi outpost there, thus uniting duty with recrea- 



tion. Then home to his private office, where 
he wrote or dictated letters till ten. The last 
tired scribe being then dismissed, the general 
retired to the onlj' apartment into which no^ 
visitor ever entered, where,^ at a little desk in a 
corner, he wrote the papers and dis[)atches- 
which were of most importance, or which were 
designed only for the eye of the person ad- 
dressed. 

Even this constant devotion to the business 
of his position could not prevent an accumula- 
tion of unanswered letters. Frequently he was- 
obliged to ply the pen all day Sunday, in order 
to reduce the mountain of papers, and begin the 
week with a clear conscience and a clean table.. 
The business, however, was all done. No letter 
but received its due attention. Letters from home- 
asking information respecting soldiers who bad 
suddenly ceased to write to their friends were 
invariably answered, and the fullest accounts 
given which could be procured. A decent ap- 
plication for an autograph was not neglected •, 
for the general kept a supply of the article on 
hand, ready folded, enveloped, and stamped. 

" Why not ?" he said one day to Major Strong, 
who laughed at this business-like proceeding. 
" If I can gratify* a person, by writing my name, 
why should not I do it ? At the same time, 
why should not I do it with the least trouble to 
myself?" 

Thus the days passed. A trip up the river to 
Baton Rouge, or down the river to the forts, a 
ride to Carrollton, or a brigade review, varied 
the uniformity of the general's life. But most 
of his days were employed in the manner just 
de.scribed. " For hours," writes one, " he sits 
and patiently listens to complaints, and suggests 
punishments or redress. Returning to his hotel, 
lie partiikes of a simple meal, retires to his room, 
to be again besieged by crowds of officers and 
orderlies, charged with reports, or waiting orders. 
Late at night, I have seen tlio gas gleaming 
from his room (the door open by the necessity 
of getting some air in this suffocating climate), 
and the general buried in the labor of his exten- 
sive military correspondence." 

It was not General Butler's office alone 
which was besieged by crowds of anxious people. 
Colonel French, General Shepley, Col. Stafford, 
Dr. McCormick, were only less busy than he, in 
answering the arguments, and supplying the 
wants of the people. 

The general life of the city had resumed some- 
thing of its wonted careless gayety and business 
bustle. The morning markets of New Orleans 
were bright once more with red bandannas, and 
noisy with the many-tongued chatter of the 
huckster.'^ — Creole, French, German, Spanish, 
and English. "I suppose," remarks a spirited 
writer,* '• that nowhere since the dispersion of 
the builders of Babel, could Lie heard such poly- 
glot vociferations as proceed from the sidewalk 
peddlers in the French market at New Orleans. 
On one side, the gesticulative Gaul rolls his r's 
with absolutely canine emphasis in the utterance 
of iiis native language, or gallicizes the English 
appellation of the most popular of vegetables 
into 'pa-ta-ta — si' or informs you that the price 
of a bird or fish is ' two bit ! two bit — ^you no 



* Mr. Thomas Butler Gunn, tho au. 
of the New Yorh Tribune. 



I deat 



RECALL. 



157 



like him, you no hab hitnl' On another, the 
German vociferates with as liarmonious an effect 
as might be produced by the simuhaneous shalv- 
ing up of pebbles in a quart pot, and the fihog 
of a hand-saw ; while on a third and fourth, the 
Creole, Sicilian, and Dego rival each other in 
vocal discord. Fancy all this, and throw in any 
amount of obstreperous, broad-mouthed, gleeful 
negro laughter, and you have some approxima- 
tion toward the sounds audible at the time and 
locality I have undertaken to describe." 

The far-fiimed rotunda of the St. Charles hotel 
again resounded with the noise of mullitudinous 
conversation ; but its lofty dome echoed not 
back the sound of the auctioneer's hammer, that 
doomed the pampered house-slave to the horrors 
of a Red River plantation, or consigned a beauti- 
ful quadroon to the arms of a lucky gambler. 
The levee still looked bare and deserted to those 
who had known it it in former years ; but there 
was some life there. A few vessels were loading 
or discharging. The ferry-boats were plying on 
the river. The scream of the steam-whistle was 
heard, and steamboats were " up" for Carrollton, 
Baton Rouge, or Fort Jackson. In the stream 
lay at anchor a few representatives of the im- 
mortal fleet, the arrival of which, in the last 
days of April, ushered in a new era of the his- 
tory of Louisiana. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



Thkre had been rumors all the summer that 
General Butler was about to be recalled from 
the Department of the Gulf. In August, he 
alluded to these rumors in one of his letters to 
General Halleck, and said, that if the govern- 
ment meant to remove him, it was only lair for 
his successor to come at once, and take part of 
the yellow fever season. General Halleck re- 
plied, September 14, that these rumors were 
"' without foundation." Mr. Stanton had written 
approvingly of his course. Mr. Chase and Mr. 
Blair expressed very cordial approval of it. The 
president, in October, wrote to the general in a 
friendly and confideutial manner. Jt was only 
the secretary of state who appeared to dread 
that total suppression of the enemies of the 
United States in Louisiana, which it was Gene- 
ral Butler's aim to effect. But it was not sup- 
posed that his policy would carry him so far as 
to deprive his country of the services of the man 
who, wherever he had been employed, had 
shown so much ability, and who had just 
achieved the ablest and the noblest piece of im- 
promptu statesmanship the modern wwld has 
seen. 

General Butler was going on in the usual 
tenor of his way. His favorite scheme, as the 
winter drew near, was the rooting of the custom- 
house, the citadel of New Orleans. The gov- 
ernment had expended millions upon that edifice, 
and its marble walls had been completed, but it 
stood exposed to the weather, and was rapidly 
depreciating. The estimates of competent en- 
,giueer officers showed that it eould be covered 
for about forty thousand dollars witli a roof of 
wood, which would last thirty or forty years, 



save the costly structure from decay, and render 
the upper stories inhabitable. He procured part 
of the necessary timber by seizing a large quan- 
tity which was the property of those notorious 
' foreign neutrals,' Gautheriuand Co., and which, 
he was prepared to show, had been bought by 
the Confederate government. In executing the 
work, he intended to employ a large number of 
the men who were daily fed by the bounty of 
the government. The operation was about to 
be begun, when the order for his recall arrived. 
It would have been done in three months from 
the revenues of the department. The Custom- 
House is still without a roof 

Another project engaged his attention toward 
the close of the year. He received information 
that a speculative firm in Havana had imported 
from Europe a large quantity of arms, which they 
hoped to sell to the Confederate government. 
He sent an officer to Havana to examine these 
arms, procure samples, and endeavor to get the 
reftisal of them for three months, so as to gain 
time for the war department to effect the pur- 
chase of the arms for the United States. Captain 
Hill, the officer employed on this errand, had 
obtained a refusal of the arms for several weeks, 
when the change of commanders took place, and 
the affair was dropped. Captain Hill reports, 
that no citizen of the United States, supposed to 
have a public commission, was safe at that time 
in Havana. He was subjected to every kind of 
annoyance, and was warned by friendly Cubans 
not to be in the streets alone after dark. The 
town swarmed with rebel emissaries and rebel 
sympathizers, affording another proof that, in 
this quarrel, we are alone against the benighted 
men, and classes of men, who are interested in 
retarding the progress of civilization. The day 
after the departure of Captain Hill from New 
Orleans, the report was current in the city that 
he had been sent by General Butler to the 
North, with two millions in gold, the spoils of 
Lafourche, to deposit in some place of safety 
against the coming day of wrath. He carried, in 
fact, just two thoneaud dollars in gold, to defray 
his expenses in Havana. 

New Orleans elected two members of congress 
iu December, Mi-. Benjamin F. Flanders, and Mr. 
Michael Hahn, both uncondiiiomd Union men. 
Mr. Flanders received 2,370 votes out of 2,543 ; 
Mr. Hahn received 2,581, which was a majority 
of 144 over all competitors. The canvass v/as 
spirited, and no restriction was placed upon the 
voting, except to exclude all who had not taken 
the oath of allegiance. At this election, the 
number of Union votes exceeded, by one thou- 
sand, the wliole number of votes cast in the city 
for secession. 

It could be truly said in December, that there 
was in New Orleans, after seven months of 
General Butler's government, a numerous party 
for the Union, probably a majority of the whole 
number of voters. The men uf wealth were se- 
cessionists, almost to a man. The gamblers and 
ruffians were on the same side. The lowest 
class of whites exhibited the same impious an- 
tipathy to the negroes, and the same leaning to- 
ward their oppressor:?, that we observe in the 
corresponding class in two or three northern 
cities. But, among the respectable michauics 
and smaller traders, there was a great host who 
were either committed to the side of the Union, 



158 



EEC ALL. 



or were only deterred from committing them- 
selves bj' a fear that, after all, the city was 
destined to fall again under the dominion of tiie 
Confederates. The Union meetings were at- 
tended by enthusiastic crowds, and tlie elo- 
quence of a Doming, a Durant, a Hamilton, was 
greeted with the same applause that it elicits at 
the North. When General Butler appeared in 
public he was greeted with cheers not less 
hearty nor less unanimous than he has since been 
accustomed to receive nearer home. Late in 
November he made a public visit to the theater. 
When he entered the house the audience rose 
and gave him clieer upon cheer, just as in New 
York or Boston. 

The Union party, too, was a growing power. 
Union men now felt that they were on the side 
of the strongest. They knew that no man could 
be anything or effect anything, or enjoy anything 
in Louisiana, who was not on the side of his 
country. For Union men there were offices, 
employments, privileges, favors, honors, every- 
thing which a government can bestow. For 
rebels there was mere protection against per- 
sonal violence — mere toleration of their presence ; 
and that only so long as they remaiued perfectly 
submissive and quiescent. It has been truly 
remarked, that of the three powers of a com- 
munity — the government, the rich and the mul- 
titude — any two can always overcome the third. 
In New Orleans the government and the mul- 
titude were forming daily a closer union ; and 
the wealthy faction, who had ruined the state, 
were becoming daily more isolated and more 
powerless. 

Meanwhile, the general was urging upon the 
war department the necessity of a larger force, 
that he might employ the cool season in reducing 
Port Hudson and extending the area of conquest 
in other directions. He entreated his old friend 
Senator Wilson to use liis influence at the war 
department in his behalf The senator's reply 
is curious, when we consider that at the time of 
the interview which it records General Butler's 
successor in the Department of the Gulf had 
appointed twenty-three days. " Your note," said 
Senator Wilson, " was placed in my hand to-day 
(December 2,) and I at once called upon the 
secretary of war, and pressed the importance of 
increasing your force. He agreed with me and 
promised to do what be could to aid you. He 
expressed his confidence in you and his approval 
of your vigor and ability. This was gratifying 
to me, but I should have been more pleased to 
have had him order an addition to your force, so 
that you might have a larger field of action. I 
will press the matter all I can." 

Early in December it became well known in 
New Orleans that the government was preparing, 
in the ports of the North, one of those imposing 
expeditions of wliich so many have sailed on 
mysterious errands during the war. Texas was 
supposed to be its object. Texas, I believe, ivas 
its ultimate object. 

In the absence of official information, and 
supposing his own services approved by the 
government. General Butler was left to infer that 
General Banks was to hold an independent com- 
mand in the department of the Gulf. He feared 
a conflict of authority. Nor could he regard 
with complacency the coming of another major- 
general to reap the laurels of the field, while he 



himself; after having done the painful and odiou:^ 
part of the work, was left still to battle only 
with the sullen, unarmed secessionists of New 
Orleans. Not to embarrass the government, he 
wrote to the president an unofficial letter on the 
subject. 

" I see by the papers," he writes, November 
29th, " that General Banks is about being sent 
into this department with troops, upon an inde- 
pendent expedition and command. This seems 
to imply a want of confidence in the command 
of this department, perhaps deserved, but still 
painful In my judgment, it will be prejudicial 
to the public service to attempt any expedition 
into Texas without making New Orleans a base 
of supplies and co-operation. To do tMs there 
must be one head and one deparment. 

" I do not propose to argue the question here ; 
still farther is it from my purpose to suggest even 
that there may not be a better head than the 
one now in the department. I beg leave to 
call your attention, that since I came into the 
field, the day after your first proclamation, I 
have ever been in the frontier line of the rebellion 
— Annapolis, when Washington was threatened : 
Relay House, when Harper's Ferry was being 
evacuated; Baltimore, Fort Monroe, Newport 
News, Hatteras, Ship Island, and New Orleans. 
It is not for me to say with what meed of success. 
But I have a right to say that I have lived at 
this station exposed, at once, to the pestilence 
and the assassin, for eight months, awaiting re- 
enforcements which the government could not 
give until now. And now they are to be given 
to another. I have never complained. I do not 
now complain. I have done as well as I could, 
everythiug which the government asked me to 
do. I have eaten that which was set before me, 
asking no questions. 

"It is safe for any person to come to New 
Orleans and stay. It has been demonstrated 
that the quarantine can keep away the fever. 
The assassins are overawed or punished. 

" Why, then, am I left here when another i* 
sent into the field in this department ? If it is 
because of my disqualification for the service, in 
which I have as long an experience as any 
general in the United States army now in the 
service (being the senior in rank,) 1 pray you 
say so ; and so far from being even aggrieved, 
I will return to my home, consoled by the 
reflection, that I have at least done my duty as 
far as endeavor and application go. I am only 
desirous of not being kept where I am not 
needed or desired, and I will relieve the admin- 
istration of all embarrassment. Pray do me tht- 
favor to reflect that I am not asking for the com- 
mand of any other person; but, simply, that 
unless the government service require it, that 
my own, which, I have a right to say, has uoc 
been the least successful of the war, shall not be 
taken from me in such a manner as to leave rne 
all the burden without any of the results. 

" Permit me also to say, that toward General 
Banks, who is selected to be the leader of the 
Texas Expedition, I have none but the kindest 
feelings, he having been my personal friend for 
years, and still being so. 

" Writing about my personal aSairs, which 1 
have never done before, I hardly know how to 
express myself; but what I mean is this : If 
the commander-in-chief find me incompetent (uu- 



RECALL. 



159 



faithful I know he cannot,) let me be removed, 
and be allowed to meet the issue before him and 
my country ; but, as I never do anything by 
iudirectioa myself, all I ask of the president, as 
a just man, is that the same course may be taken 
toward me. 

"Allow me to repeat again, sir, what I have 
before said — although the deiermiuatiou may 
cause my recall — jjut the department which in- 
cludes Louisiana and Texas under one head, and 
it will be best for tlie service. I pray you, sir, 
not to misunderstand me. I have given up 
something for my country, and cau give up 
more. And this command is a small matter in 
comparison, in my mind, to my own self-respect, 
or to the good of the service. 

" I do not seek to embarrass the government 
by any action of mine, or in regard to myself. 
I'ar from it. I could even take myself away 
rather than do anything which woulfl weaken, 
by one ounce, the strength with which the ad- 
ministration should strangle this rebellion." 

It was too late. When this letter was written, 
the fate of the writer had been decided for 
twenty days. The answer to it came by rebel tel- 
egraph to the outlaying camps of the enemy, and 
was brought in by the Union spies ten days, or 
more, before General Banks himself knew his 
destination. It came in the Ibrm of a positive 
statement that General Banks w'as coming to 
New Orleans to supersede General Butler. The 
higher cii'cles of secessionists were so certain of 
the fact that bets were made, in the principal 
club of the cit3', of a hundred dollars to ten, that 
General Butler would be recalled before the 
eud of the year. It now appears, that the 
French Government w^as first notified of the 
intended change. The news, probably, came 
direct, either from the state department or from 
the French legation. From whatever source it 
was derived, the rebels knew it before it had 
been whispered about Washington. Jefierson 
Davis knew it before General Banks, though 
Davis was at Jackson, in Mississippi, and Gen- 
eral Banks was at Washington^ 

General Butler submitted to the inevitable 
stroke with the best possible grace. He had 
had practice in submission. Had he not been 
recalled from Baltimore for doing his duty too 
well ? Had he not been recalled from Fortress 
Monroe at the moment it had become possible 
to reap the fruit of his most able and arduous 
labors ? 

He gave General Banks a cordial and brilliant 
reception. At Fort Jackson, the arriving gene- 
ral, much to his surprise, was saluted by the 
number of guns whicii, by regulation, announce 
the presence of the commander of the depart- 
ment. At the levee of New Orleaus, General 
Butler provided carriages, escort, and a saluting 
battery, and detailed members of his staff to su- 
perintend the arrangements for the honorable en- 
tertainment of his successor. General Banks 
arrived on Sunday evening, December 14, and 
immediately drove to General Butler's residence, 
where he was received with every honor. He 
had a Uttle billet to deliver, which explained the 
object of his presence in Louisiana with a brevi- 
ty more than Bomaa ; 



" War Department, Adj't.-Gesbrai.'s Ofpicb, 
'■ Washington, November 9, 1S62. 

" General Order No. 184:. 

" By direction of the president of the United 
Stales, Major-General Banks is assigned to the 
command of the Department of the Gulf) includ- 
ing the state of Texas. 

Bv order of the secretary of war, 
"E. D. Thomas, 
Assistant Adjutant- General, 
"H. W. Halleck, General-in- Ghi^.^' 

On Tuesday, the sixteenth, the two generals- 
met at head-quarters, where General Butler for- 
mally surrendered the command of the depart- 
ment. Each general introduced his staff to the 
stafl' of the other. General Butler pronounced 
an eulogium upon the character and career of his 
successor, and ordered his staff to extend to him 
and to his officers every facility in their power 
for acquiring the requisite information relating to 
the department. The Delta, in chronichng the 
interview, bestowed due commendation upon the 
retiring general, but commended General Banks 
to the people and to the army with equal warmth. 
The Delta of the same day, published the last 
general order of the retiring commander: 

'• Head-quartkrs, Department of thb Gulf, 
" New Orleans, December 15, 1862. 

Gexeral Order No. 106. 

'• Soldiers of the Army of the Gulf: 

" Relieved from farther duties in this Depart- 
ment by direction of the president, under date of 
November 9, 1862, I take leave of you by this 
final order, it being impossible to visit your scat- 
tered outposts, covering hundreds of miles of the 
frontier of a larger territory than some of the 
kingdoms of Europe. 

" I greet you, my brave comrades, aud say 
farewell I 

'' This word, endeared as you are by a com- 
munity of privations, hardships, dangers, victo- 
ries, successes, military aud civil, is the only sor- 
rowful thought I have. 

"You have deserved well of your country. 
Without a murmur you sustained an encampment 
on a sand bar, so desolate that banishment to it, 
with every care aud comfort possible, has been 
the most dreaded punishment inflicted upon your 
bitterest and most insulting enemies. 

" You had so little transportation, that but a 
handful could advance to compel submission by 
the queen city of the rebellion, whilst others 
waded breast-deep in the marshes which surround 
St. Philip, and forced the surrender of a fort 
deemed impregnable to land attack by the most 
skillful engineers of your country and her 
enemy. 

"At your occupation, order, law, quiet, and 
peace sprang to this city, filled with the 
bravos of all nations, where, for a score of years, 
during the profoundest peace, human lile was 
scarcely safe at noonday. 

"By your disciphne you illustrated the best 
traits of the American soldier, and enchained the 
admiration of those that came to scofl". 

" Landing with a mihtary chest containing but 
seveuty-five dollars, from the hoards of a rebel 
government you have given to your country's 
treasury nearly a half million of dollars, and so 
suppUed yourselves with the needs of .vour ser- 



160 



SECALL. 



vice that your expeditiou has cost your govera- 
ment less by four-fifths than any other. 

" You have fed the starving poor, the wives 
and children of your enemies, so converting ene- 
mies into friends, tliat they have sent their repre- 
sentatives to your congress, by a vote greater 
than your entire numbers, from districts in which, 
when you entered, you were tauntingly told that 
there was ' no one to raise your flag.' 

" By your practical philanthropy you have 
won the confideuce of the 'oppressed race ' and 
the slave. Hailing you as deliverers, they are 
ready to aid you as willing servants, faithful la- 
borers, or using the tactics taught them by your 
enemies, to fight with you in the field. 

" By steady attention to the laws of health, 
you have stayed the pestilence, and, humble in- 
struments in the hands of God, you have demon- 
strated the necessity that His creatures should 
obey His laws, and, reaping His blessing in this 
most unhealthy climate, you have preserved your 
ranks fuller than those of any other battalions of 
the same length of service. 

" You have met double numbers of the enemy, 
and defeated him iu the open field ; but I need 
not farther enlarge upon this topic. You were 
sent here to do that. 

"I commend you to your commander. You 
are worthy of his love. 

"Farewell, my comrades I again farewell! 
" Benj. F. Butler, 
" Major- General Commanding.''^ 

The general immediately prepared for his de- 
parture. As he had received no directions as to 
his future course, he presumed that the place for 
Jiim to retha to was his own home at Lowell. 
" Having received no further orders," he wrote 
to the president, " either to report to the com- 
miinder-in-chief, or otherwise, I have taken the 
Jiberty to suppose that I was permitted to return 
■home, my services being no longer needed here. 
I have given Major-General Banks all the infor- 
mation in my power, and more than he has asked, 
in relation to the affairs of this department." 

The general's farewell order to his troops called 
forth many pleasing proofs of the strength of 
their attachment to a commander who, on alloc- 
•casions, had made their cause his own. Among 
the letters of those last days I find one which, I 
'trust, may be printed without impropriety j 

"Lakbport, December, ib, 1863. 
" Major-General B. F. Butler : 

Sir: — Last summer you had occasion to re- 
primand an officer for an unintentional neglect 
•ot duty. Your manner and your words sunk 
deep into his memory; and he always wished 
some opportunity might present itself when he 
■could evidence by his actions his full appreciation 
■of your delicate reproval. I am that officer; 
and, in part, the wished for opportunity came 
when I was ordered here. I have tried to do 
my duty, and feel that I have done it, because 
my general, fur whose command I raised my 
company, who never forgets to censure or to re- 
ward, has not reproved ma 

" For your kindness to the soldiers you will 
-ever be held in loving remembrance : your .past 
iservices will be remembered by the country, and 
ibe rewarded. 

"Now that you are to leave us, there can be 



no want of delicacy in my thus expressing my 
feelings. I say, good fortune attend you. (Sood- 
by, General ; God bless you I 

"I remain, with great regard, yours ever to 
command, " John F. Appleton, 

" Capt. Comd'g at Lakeport." 

On the twenty-third, there was a public leave- 
taking, when a great number of officers and citi 
zens gathered round the general to bid him fare- 
well. For two hours, a continuous procession 
of his friends passed by where he stood, and 
shook him by the hand. General Banks and 
his officers were among them. Admiral Far- 
ragut was there, with many officers of the 
fleet. 

It seemed good to the general to say a word 
of farewell to the people of New Orleans. Amid 
the hurry^nd bustle of his departure, he found 
time to produce a Farewell Address, so grand 
in its truth, wisdom, and simplicity, that it must 
ever be regarded as one of the noblest utterances 
of the time, or of any time : 

FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

" Citizen's of New Orleans: — It may not be 
inappropriate, as it is not inopportune in occasion, 
that there should be addressed to you a few 
words at parting, by one whose name is to 
be hereafter indissolubly connected with your 
city. 

" I shall speak in no bitterness, because I am 
not conscious of a single personal animosity. 
Commanding the Army of the Gulf, I found you 
captured, but not surrendered; conquered, but 
not orderly; relieved from the presence of an 
army, but incapable of taking care of yourselves. 
I restored order, punished crime, opened com- 
merce, brought provisions to your starving 
people, reformed your currency, and gave you 
quiet protection, such as you had not enjoyed 
for many years. 

" While doing this, my soldiers were subjected 
to obloquy, reproach, and insult. 

" And now, speaking to you, who know the 
truth, I here declare that whoever has quietly 
remained about his business, afifording neither 
aid nor comfort to the enemies of the United 
States, has never been interfered with by the 
soldiers of the United States. 

" The men who had assumed to govern you 
and to defend your city in arms having fled, 
some of your women flouted at the presence of 
those who came to protect them. By a simple 
order (No. 28) I called upon every soldier of 
this army to treat the women of New Orleans as 
gentlemen should deal with the sex, with such 
effect that I now call upon the just-minded 
ladies of New Orleans to say whether they have 
ever enjoyed .so complete protection and calm 
quiet for themselves and their families as since 
the advent of tlie United States troops. 

" The enemies of my country, unrepentant and 
implacable, I have treated with merited severity. 
I liold that rebellion is treason, and that treason 
persisted in is death, and any punishment short 
of that due a traitor gives so much clear gain to 
him from the clemency of the government. 
Upon this thesis have I administered the authori- 
ty of the United States, because of which I a'B 



RECALL. 



161 



not unconscious of complaint. I do not feel that 
I have erred in too much harshness, for that 
harshness has ever been exhibited to disloyal 
enemies to my countiy, and not to loyal friends. 
To be sure, I might liave regaled you with the 
amenities of British civilization, and yet been 
within the supposed rules of civilized warfere. 
You miglit have lieen smoked to death in cav- 
erns, as were the Covenanters of Scotland by the 
command of a gejieral of tlie royal house of 
England ; or roasted, lil^e the inhabitants of 
Algiers during the French campaign ; your wives 
and dnighters might have been given over to 
the ravisher, as were the unfortunate dames of 
Spain in the Peninsular war; or you might have 
been scalped and tomahawked as our mothers 
were at Wyoming by the savage allies of Great 
Britain in our own Revolution; your property 
could have been turned over to indiscriminate 
' loot,' like the palace of the Emperor of China; 
works of art which adorned your buildings might 
have been sent away, like the paintings of the 
Vatican ; your sons might have been blown 
from the moiiths of cannon, like the Sepoys at 
Delhi ; and yet all this would have been within 
t.he rules of civilized warfare as practiced by 
the most polished and the most hypocritical 
r.ations of Europe. For such acts the records 
■of the doingi of some of the inhabitants of your 
city toward the friends of the Union, before 
my coming, were a sufficient provocative and 
justification. 

" But I have not so condiicted. On the con- 
trary, the worst punishment inflicted, except for 
■criminal acts punishable by every law, has been 
banishment with labor to a barren island, where 
I encamped my own soldiers before marching 
'here. 

" It is true, I have levied upon the wealthy 
rebels, and paid out nearly half a million of dol- 
lars to feed 40,000 of the starving poor of all 
■nations assembled here, made so by this war. 

"I saw that this rebellion was a war of the 
aristocrats against the middling men — of the 
rich against the poor ; a war cff the land-owner 
against the laborer ; that it was a struggle for 
the retention of power in the hands of the few 
against the many; and I found no conclusion to 
it, save in the subjugation of the few and the 
disinthrallment of the many. I, therefore, felt 
no hesitation in taking the substance of the 
wealthy, who had caused the war, to feed the 
innocent poor, who had suffered by the war. 
And I shall now leave you with the proud con- 
sciousness that I carry with me the blessings of 
the humble and loyal, under the roof of the 
'Cottage and in the cabin of the slave, and so am 
•quite content to incur the sneers of the salon, or 
the curses of the rich. 

" I found you trembling at the terrors of ser- 
vile insurrection. All danger of this I have 
prevented by so treating the slave that he had 
no cause to rebel. 

"I found the dungeon, the chain, and the lash 
your only means of enforcing obedii-nce in your 
servants. I leave them peaceful, laborious, con- 
trolled by the laws of kindness and justice. 

" I have demonstrated that the pestilence can 
be kept from your borders. 

" I have added a million of dollars to your 
wealth in the form of new land from the batture 
•of the Mississippi. 



" I have cleansed and improved your streets, 
canals, and public squares, and opened new 
avenues to unoccupied land. 

" I have given you freedom of elections greater 
than ou have ever enjoyed before. 

" I have caused justice to be administered so 
impartially that your own advocates have unani- 
mously complimented the judges of my appoint- 
ment.*' 

" You have seen, therefore, the benefit of the 
laws and ju.sticeof the government against which 
you have /ebellod. 

"Why, then, will you not all return to your 
allegiance to that government, — not with lip- 
service, but with the heart? 

" I conjure you, if you desire ever to see re- 
newed prosperity, giving business to your streets 
and wharves — if you hope to see your city be- 
come again the mart of the western world, fed 
by its rivers for more than three thousand miles, 
draining the commerce of a country greater than 
the mind of man hath ever conceived — return to 
your allegiance. 

" If j'ou desire to leave to your children the 
inheritance you received from your fathers — a 
stable constitutional government ; if you desire 
that they should in the future be a portion of the 
greatest empire the sun ever shone upon — re- 
turn to your allegiance. 

" There is but one thing that stands in the 
way. 

" There is but one thing that at this hour 
stands between you and the government — and 
that is slavery. 

" The institution, cursed of God, which has 
taken its last refuge here, in His providence will 
be rooted out as the tares from the wheat, al- 
though the wheat be torn up with it. 

" I have given much thought to this subject. 

" I came among you, by teachings, by habit of 
mind, by political position, bj' social affinity, in- 
clined to sustain 3'onr domestic laws, if by possi- 
bility they might be with safety to the Union. 

" Months of experience and of observation 
have forced the conviction that the existence of 
slavery is incompatible with the safety eithSr of 
yourselves or of the Union. As the system has 
gradually grown to its present huge dimensions, 
it were best if it could be gradually removed; 
but it is better, far better, that it should be taken 
out at once, than that it should longer vitiate the 
social, political and family relations of your 
country. I am speaking with no philanthropic 
views as regards the slave, but simply of the 
effect of slavery on the master. See for your- 
selves. 

" Look around you and say whether this sad- 
dening, deadening iiflueuce has not all but de- 
stroyed the very framework of your sociel3^ 

'' I am speakinir the farewell words of one 
who has shown his devotion to his couv.try at 
the peril of his life and f)itiine, who in these 
words can have neither hope nor interest, savo 
the good of those whom he addresses; and let 
me here repeat, with all the solemnity of an ap- 
peal to Heaven to bear me witness, that such 
are the views forced upon me by experience. 

* ITpon the retirement of Major Bell from the bench 
of the provost couru the lawyer .'ind others who had 
attended it presenteil to the major a valuable eaiie, »c- 
comiianyinsc the sift wi;li expressions of esteem and 
gratitude, tar more precious than any gift could be. 



162 



RECALL. 



" Come, then, lo the uncoudilional support of 
the government. Take into your own hands your 
own institutions ; remodel tlicm according to the 
laws of nations and of God, and thus attain that 
great prosperity assured to you by geographical 
position, only a portion of which was heretofore 
yours." 

" Benjamin F. Butler. 
"New Orleans, Dec. 24:th, 1862." 

Where is there a nobler piece than this? 
Where one more exactly true? Where one 
more irrefragably wise ? Happy the land which, 
at a crisis of public danger, can summon from 
the walks of private life a man capable, first, of 
doing these things, and then of recording them 
in a strain of such severe and grand simplicity. 
So Caesar might have written, when Cajsar was 
a patriot. So Napoleon, had Napoleon been a 
citizen of a free country. But they did not. 
Tiie situation was unique, and the piece stands 
alone, above and beyond all the writings of the 
great soldiers of the world. 

Perhaps I may be pardoned for mentioning 
the eflect which its perusal produced upon one 
individual, the reader's most humble and most 
devoted servant and scribe. He had been for 
three years absorbed in writing, or preparing to 
write, a complete biography of the greatest of 
all Yankees, Benjamin Franklin. Upon reading 
this farewell address, he was drawn irresistibly 
to the conclusion that he must discontinue that 
fascinating employment for a time, and endeavor 
to inform his tellow-citizens how it had come to 
pass, that a hunker democrat, the Breckinridge 
candidate for the governorship of Massachusetts, 
a voter for Jeflerson Davis in the Charleston con- 
vention, had become capable, in the course of 
two years, of writing General Butler's farewell 
address to the people of New Orleans. 

Anotlier review of General Butler's administra- 
tion has seen the light. It was written by 
Jefferson Davis, who was so considerate as to 
defer its publication until he had every reason to 
suppose that the general was on his way home. 
It was, in fact, published in Richmond the day 
before General Butler lelt New Orleans, so that 
he never saw it until his arrival at New York. 
As every one of the short sentences in General 
Butler's address is the simplest statement of a 
fact, so each of the paragraphs of Jefferson 
D:tvis's proclamation which relates to General 
Butler's conduct is the distinct utterance of a 
lie. 

A. PROCLAMATION 

BY THE PRESIDENT OP THE CONFEDERATE 

STATES. 

***** 

" Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President 
of the Conf derate States of America, and in 
their name, do pronounce and declare the said 
Benjamin F. Butler lo be a felon, deserving of 
capital punisinneiit. I do order that he shall no 
lonjicr be considered or treated simply as a pub- 
lic ennniv of the Confederate States of America, 
but iis an outlaw and conmon enemy of man- 
kintl. and that, in the event of his capture,' tiie 
ollicer in command of the capturing force do 
cuse him to be immediately executed by hang- 
ing. 



" And I do f;\rther order that no commissionecl 
officer of the United States, taken capiive, shall 
be released on parole, before exchanged, until 
the said Butler shall have met with due punish- 
ment for his crimes. 

"And wherea.s, the hostilities waged against 
this Confederacy by the forces of the United 
States, under the command of said Benjamin F. 
Butler, have borne no resemblance to such war- 
fare as is alone permissible by the rules of inter- 
national law or the usages of civilization, but 
have been characierized by repeated atrocities 
and outrages, among the large number of which 
the following may be cited as examples; 

•'Peaceful and aged citizens, unresisting cap- 
tives and non-combatants, have been confined at 
hard labor, with haid chains attached to their 
limbs, and are still so held, in dungeons and for- 
tresses. 

" Others have been submitted to a like de- 
grading punishment for selling medicines to the 
sick soldiers of tiie Confederacy. 

" The soldiers of the United States have been 
invited and encouraged in general orders to in- 
sult and outrage the wives, the mothers, and the 
sisters of our citizens. 

" Helpless women have been torn from their 
homes, and subjected to solitary confinement, 
some in fortresses and prisons, and one especially 
on an island of barren sand, under a tropical 
sun; have been fed with loathsome rations that 
have been condemned as unfit for soldiers, and 
have been exposed to the vilest insults. 

" Prisoners of war, who surrendered to the 
naval forces of the United States, on agreement 
that tliey should be released on parole, hare 
been seized and kept in close confinement. 

" Repeated pretexts have been sought or in- 
vented for plundering the inhabitants of a cap- 
tured city, by fines levied and collected under 
threats of imprisoning recusants at hard labor 
with ball and chain. The entire population of 
New Orleans have been forced to elect betweea 
starvation by the confiscation of all their prop- 
erty and taking an oath against conscience to 
bear allegiance to the invader of their country. 

" Egress from the city has been refused to 
those whose fortitude withstood the test, and 
even to lone and aged women, and lo helpless 
children; and, after being ejected from their 
homes and robbed of their property, they have 
been left to starve in the streets or subsist on 
charity. 

" The slaves have been driven from the planta- 
tions in the neighborhood of New Orleans until 
their owners would consent to share their crops 
with the commanding general, his brother, An- 
drew J. Butler, and oilier officers ; and when 
such con.sent had been extorted, the slaves have 
been restored to the plantations, and there com- 
pelled to work under the bayonets of the guards 
of United Stales soldiers. Where that partner- 
ship was refused, armed expeditions have been 
sent to the plantations to rob them of everything 
that was susceptible of removal. 

" And even slaves, too aged or infirm for 
work, have, in spite of their entreaties, been 
forced from the homes provided by their owners, 
and driven to wander helpless on the highway. 

"By a recent General Order No. 91, tiie entire 
property in that part of Louisiana west of the 
Mississippi river has been sequestrated for contis- 



RECALL. 



163 



cation, and oflScers have been assigned to duty, 
with orders to gather up and collect the personal 
property, and turn over to the proper officers, 
upon their receipts, such of said property as raaj' 
be required for the use of the United States 
army ; to collect together all the other personal 
property and bring the same to New Orleans, 
and cause it to be sold at public auction to the 
highest bidders — an order which, if executed, 
condemns to punishment, by starvation, at least 
a quarter of a million of human beings, of all 
ages, sexes, and conditions, and of which the 
execution, although forbidden to military officers 
by the orders of President Lincoln, is in accord- 
ance with the confiscation law of our' enemies, 
which he has effijcted to be enforced through the 
agency of civil officials. 

" And, finally, the African slaves have not 
only been incited to insurrection by every license 
and encouragement, but numbers of them have 
actually been armed for a servile war — a war in 
its nature far exceeding the horrors and most 
merciless atrocities o( savages. 

"And wliereas, the officers under command of 
the said Butler have been, in many instances, ac- 
tive and zealous agents in the commission of 
these crimes, and no instance is known of the 
refusal of any one of them to participate in the 
outrages above narrated: 

"And whereas, the President of the United 
States has, by public and official declarations, 
signified not only his approval of the effort to 
excite servile war within the Confederacy, but 
his intention to give aid and encouragement 
thereto, if these independent states shall continue 
to refuse submission to a foreign power after the 
1st day of January next, and has thus made 
known that all appeal to the law of nations, the 
dictates of reason, and the instincts of humanity 
would be addressed in vain to our enemies, and 
that they can bo deterred from the commission 
of ttiese crimes only by the terrors of just retri- 
bution ; 

" Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, president 
of the Confederate States of America, and acting 
by their authority, appealing to the Divine Judge 
la attestation that their conduct is not guided 
by the passion of revenge, but that they reluc- 
tantly yield to the solemn duty of redressing, by 
necessary severity, crimes of which their citizens 
are the victims, do issue this my proclamation, 
and, by virtue of mj' authority as commander-in- 
chief of the armies of the Confederate States, do 
order — 

'^ First — ^That all commissioned officers in the 
command of said Benjamin F. Butler be declared 
not entitled to be considered as soldiers engaged 
in honorable warfare, but as robbers and crimi- 
nals, deserving death ; and that they and eacli 
of them be, whenever captured, reserved for 
execution. 

" Second — That the private soldiers and non- 
commissioned officers in the army of said Butler 
be considered as only the instruments used lor 
the commission of crimes perpetrated by his 
orders, and not as free agent^s ; that tliej'^, there- 
fore, be treated when captured as prisoners of 
war, with kindness and humanity, and be sent 
home on the usual parole that tliey will in no 
mauuer aid or serve the United States in any 
capacity during the continuance of this war, 
unless duly exchanged. 



" Third — That all negro slaves captured in 
arms be at once delivered over to the executive 
authorities of the respective states to which they 
belong, to be dealt with according to the law of 
said states. 

" Fourth — That the like orders be issued in all 
cases with respect to the commissioned officers 
of the United States when found serving in com- 
pany with said slaves in insurrection against 
Che authorities of the different states of this 
Confederacy. 

" In testimony whereof, I have signed these 
presents, and caused the seal of the Confederate 
States of America to be affixed thereto, at the 
city of Richmond, on the 23d day of December, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-two. 

" Jeffeeson DAVia 
" By the President, 

" J. P. Benjamik, Secretary of State." 

All unconscious of this fulmination, General 
Butler engaged passage in an unarmed trans- 
port. On the morning of his departure, Decem- 
ber 24tli, the levee was crowded with a concourse 
of people extremely different in their demeanor 
and their feelings from the angry and tumultu- 
ous throng which howled defiance at him when 
he landed on the first of May. He spent his 
last hour with Admiral Farragut on board the 
flag-ship Hartford, endeared to both of them by 
glorious recollections. "Admiral Farragut is 
one of the men I love," the general frequently 
remarks. He had given the admiral a salute 
when the news came of his promotion to his 
present nobly-won rank in the naval service, 
and the admiral, in acknowledging the honor 
done him, had promised to return the compli- 
ment, with "interest," on the first opportunity. 
So, amid the thunder of the Hartford's great 
guns, mingling with that of a battery on shore, 
and the cheers of a great crowd of soldiers and 
citizens, the general and his family waved fare- 
well to New Orleans. 

On the voyage home, he passed within six 
hours sail ot the Alabama — a fact which derives 
some interest from such paragraphs as the fol- 
lowing : 

" Ten Thousand Dollars Reward 1-$10,000 1 
— President Davis having proclaimed Benjamin 
F. Butler, of Massachusetts, to be a felon, deserv- 
ing of capital punishment, for the deliberate 
murder of Wm. B. Mumford, a citizen of the 
Conlederate States at New Orleans ; and having 
ordered tliat the said Benjamm F. Butler be con- 
sidered or treated as an outlaw and common 
enemy of mankind, and tlial, in the event of his 
capture, the officer in command of the capturing 
force do cause him to be immediately executed 
by hanging, the undersigned hereby offers a re- 
ward ot ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the 
capture and delivery of the said Benjamin F. 
Butler, dead or alive, to any proper Confederate 
authority. 

" Richard Yeadon. 

" Charleston, S. C, January 1." 

" A daughter of South Carolina writes to the 
Charleston Gowier from Darlington District : 

" ' I propose to spin the thread to make the 
cord to execute the order of our noble president 



164 



AT HOME. 



Davis, when old Butler is caught, and my 
daughter asks that she may be allowed to ad- 
just it around his neck.' " 

After the departure of General Butler from 
New Orleans, his successor gave a fair trial to tlie 
poUcy of conciliation. Its failure was immediate, 
complete, and undeniable. ''These southern 
people," remarks an English writer who went 
to New Orleans with General Banks, "with 
their oriental civilization and institution, cherish 
something of the eastern impression that kind- 
ness and conciliation imply weakness, originating 
in a fear of inflicting punishment. Tliey hated 
Butler and feared him; now the more foolish 
sort hope for a certain amount of impunity to 
the treason yet latent among them." General 
Banks was obliged to abandon the attempt to 
win the enemies of his country by soft words 
and lenient measures. The testimony of notori- 
ous and unquestionable liicts has shown the 
country, that, in so far as General Banks has 
adopted the policy of his predecessor, his admin- 
istration of the Department of the Gulf has been 
successful, and that, in so far as he lias essen- 
tially departed from that policy, his administra- 
tion has been a failure. I had collected a great 
deal of evidence on this point, but as every 
witness tells tiie same story, and the facts are 
familiar to most of us, I will not increase the 
magnitude of this too portly volume by detailing 
it. The Iron Hand, and that alone, till slavery 
is everywhere abolished, will keep down the 
insolent and remorseless faction who have 
brought such woful and wide-spread ruin upon 
the southern states. Slavery dead, the bitter- 
ness of that faction is as harmless as a cooing 
dove. Jeflersou Davis, representing /ree Missis- 
sippi, would be innoxious in the iSenate itselii 
To kill slavery is to extract the poison from tiie 
fangs of all those deadly foes of tlieir country 
and their kind. Till that is done, there is no 
safety but in the iron rule. 



CHAPTER XXVin. 



AT HOME. 



And why was he recalled from the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf? It was natural that the 
general himself should teel some curiosity 
upon this subject. His curiosity has not been 
gratified. 

Upon reaching New York, he found a letter 
from the president, requisimg his presence at 
Washington. He was received by ail tne nn.'in 
bers of the government with tiie cordiality and 
consideration due to his eminent services, lie 
asked the president the reason of his recall, and 
the president referred huu to the secretary oi 
state and the secretary of war, who, he said, .lau 
recommended the measure. The general tlitn 
turned to Mr. Stanton. Mr. Stanton ruphcd, 
that the reason was one which did not imply, 
on the part of the government, any want oi 
confidence in his honor as a man, or in his ability 
as a commander. 

" Well," said the general, " you have now told 
me what I was rtot recalled lor. 1 now ask you 
to tell me what I was recalled lor." 



" You and I," answered Mr. Stanton, laughing, 
"are both lawyers, and it is of no use your 
filing a bill of discovery upon me, for I shan't 
tell you." 

And that is all the explanation which the gov- 
ernment has vouchsafed to him. "We are justi- 
fied, however, in concluding, that he was re- 
called lor the purpose of conciliating the French 
government, which had expressed disapproval 
of his course toward the " foreign neutrals " of 
Louisiana. 

General Butler's claim to be the senior major- 
general chanced to become a subject of conver- 
sation at the White House on this occasion. 
Without having bestowed much thought on the 
matter, he had innocently taken it for granted 
that a major-general, who had won his rank and 
received his commission several weeks before 
any other major-general had been appointed, 
must necessarily be the senior major-general. 
" The president," as he afterward remarked in 
the formal statement of his claim, requested by 
the secretary of war, " has power to do many 
things; but it has been said that even ' an act of 
parliament could not make one's uncle his aunt.' 
How then can the president make a junior offi- 
cer a senior officer in the same grade ? I grant 
that the president can put the junior in command 
of the senior, but it took an act of congress to 
enable the president to do that. But there is no 
act of congress which has or can settle seniority 
of rank otherwise than the almanac, taking note 
of the lapse of time, has settled it." 

The president said that he knew nothing about 
the duties of the several commissions. 

"lonly know," said he, "that I gave you 
your commission the first of anybody." 

The board of officers, to whom the question 
was referred, decided that the president was not 
bound by the almanac in dating commissions, 
and could make a junior senior if he pleased. 
Uonsequeutly, General McClellan, General Fre- 
mont, General Dix, and General Banks, all of 
whom were appointed many weeks alter General 
Butler, take rank before him. This is a small 
matter, hardly worth mentioning. It is merely 
one instance more of the systematic snubbing 
with which one of the very few men of first-rate 
executive ability in the public service has been 
rewarded. 

lu conversing with the president upon Uie ne- 
gro question, tlie general said that if it was con- 
sidered necessary to abolitiouize the whole army, 
It was only necessary to give each corps a turn 
ol service in tiie extreme south, where as Gene- 
ral Phelps remarked, the institution exists "in 
all Us aud pride gloom." 

It is woi tliy of note, that the only members 
of the diplomatic corps at Washington, who 
called upon the general, were the Russian min- 
ister, aud the representative of the free city of 
Bieiiieu. The friends and the toes of the United 
Stat.s, also the "neutral" powers, appear to 
iiuve an instinctive perception of the fact, that 
ueueral Builer is the Union Cause incarnate. 

The people, 1 need not say, gave the returning 
general a receptiou that left no doubt iu his mind 
ttiat las labors in the southwest were understood 
and appreciated by his fellow-citizens. BaJli- 
uiuie, Washington, New York, Boston, Lowell, 
Pliiladelpiha, Harrisburg, and i'ortlaud, have 
each received him with every circumstance 



AT HOME. 



16S 



which could enhance the dignity or the eclat of 
an honorable welcome. 

Or, to use the language of the Richmond Ex- 
aminer : 

"After inflicting innumerable tortures upon 
an innocent and unarmed people ; after outrag- 
ing the sensibilities of civilized humauitj^ by his 
brutal treatment of women and children ; after 
placing bayonets in the liands of slaves ; after 
peculation the most prodigious, and lies the most 
infamous, he returns, reeiiing with crime, to his 
own people, and they receive him with acclama- 
tions of joy in a manner that befits him and be- 
comes themselves. Nothing is out of keeping ; his 
whole career and its rewards are strictly artistic 
in conception and in execution. He was a thief. 
A sword that he had stolen from a woman — the 
niece of the brave Twiggs — was presented to 
him as a reward of valor. He had violated the 
laws of God and man. The law-makers of the 
United States voted him thanks, and the preach- 
ers of the Yankee gospel of iDlood came to him 
and worshiped him. He had broken into the 
safes and strong boxes of merchants. The New 
York Chamber of Commerce gave him a dinner. 
He had insulted women. Things in female at- 
tire lavished harlot smiles upon him. He was a 
murderer, and a nation of assassins have deified 
him. He is at this time the representative man 
of a people lost to all shame, to all humanity, all 
honor, all virtue, all manhood. Cowards by na- 
ture, thieves upon principle, and assassins at 
heart, it would be marvelous, indeed, if the 
people of the North refused to render homage to 
Benjamin Butler — the beastliest, bloodiest pol- 
troon and pickpocket the world ever saw. " 

Or, to borrow the words of the New York 
World : 

" The warm applause with which he was 
greeted by a great public assembly in this 
Christian city, is a phenomenon as shocking to a 
cultivated moral sense as the mode of propagat- 
ing religion in ages when the I'ack and the stake 
were approved means of grace. This discredit- 
able ajsplause is a new testimony to the barbar- 
izing eifects of civil war. It exemplifies the 
rude logic of violent i^assions, which, assuming 
a sacred end for its premises, infers that any 
means are justifiable for its attainment." 

Or we might quote the comments of the Lon- 
don Times, since there is the most perfect accord 
on this subject between rebels, peace democrats 
and foreign neutrals. 

Perhaps, hovvever, the reader may incline to 
the opinion of the hundred merchants of New 
York, as expressed in their letter inviting the 
general to a public dinner : 

"They share with you the conviction that 
there is.no middle or neutral ground between 
loyalty and treason ; that traitors against the 
government forfeit all rights of protection and of 
property ; that those who persist in armed re- 
bellion, or aid it less openly but not less effect- 
ively, must "be put down and kept down by the 
.strong hand of power and by the use of all right- 
ful means, and that so far as may be, the sutt'er- 
ings of the poor and misguided, caused by the 
rebellion, should be visited upon the authors of 
their calamities. We have seen, with approba- 
tion, that in applying these principles, amidst 
the peculiar difhculties and embarrassments inci- 
dent to your administration in your recent com- 



mand, you have had the sagacity to devise, the 
will to execute, and the courage to enforce the 
measures which they demanded, and we rejoice 
at the success which has vindicated the wisdom 
and the justice of your official course. In thus 
congratulating j-ou upon these results, we be- 
lieve that we express the feeling of all those who 
most earnestly desire the speedy restoration of 
the Union in its full integrity and power?" 

The public dinner was declined. "I too well 
know," replied the general, " the revulsion of 
feeling with which the soldier in the field, oc- 
cupying the trenches, pacing the sentinel's weary 
path in the blazing heat, or watching from his 
cold bivouac the stars shut out by the drenching 
cloud, hears of feasting and merry-making at 
home by those who ought to bear his hardships 
with him, and the bitterness with which he 
speaks of those who, thus engaged, are wearing 
his uniform. Upon the scorching sand, and 
under the brain-trying sun of the gulf coast, I 
have too much shared that feeling to add one 
pang, how&ver slight, to the discomfort which my 
fellow-soldiers sufi'er, doing the duties of the 
camp and field, by my own act, while separated 
momentarily from them by the exigencies of the 
public service." 

Not the less did the city of New York respond 
to the sentiments of the merchants' letter. The 
scene at the Academy of Music, on the evening 
of the 2d of April, 1863, when General Butler 
advanced to the front of the stage, will never be 
forgotten by the youngest person who witnessed 
it. The house was crowded to the remotest 
standing-place of the amphitheater. The im- 
mense stage was filled with the citizens of whom 
New York is proudest. When the general ap- 
peared, the audience sprang to their feet, and 
gave, not three cheers, nor three times three and 
one cheer more, but a unanimous, long-sustained 
roar of cheers, with a universal waving of hats 
and handkerchiefs. Several minutes elapsed 
before silence was restored. General Butler 
spoke for two hours, interrupted at every other 
sentence with enthusiastic applause. At Boston, 
in old Faneuil Hall, he could not escape from 
the crowd till he had shaken three thousand 
hands. 

Since the return of General Butler to the 
North, he has, on all occasions, public and pri- 
vate, given to the administration a most hearty 
and unwavering support. 

" The present government," he said, in lis 
speech of April 2d, at New York, "' was not the 
government of my choice. I did not vote *br it, 
nor for anj^ part of it ; but it is the government 
of my country ; it is the only oi'gan by which I 
can exert the force of the country to protect its 
integrity ; and as long as I believe that govern- 
ment to be honestly administered, I will throw 
a mantle over any mistakes that I think it has 
made, and support it heartily, with hand and 
purse, so help me God ! I have no loyalty to 
any man or men. My loyalty is to the govern- 
ment ; and it makes no difference to me who the 
people have chosen to administer the govern- 
ment. So long as the choice has been constitu- 
tionally made, and the persons so chosen hold 
their places and powers, I am a traitor and a 
false man if I falter in my support. This is what 
I understand to be loyalty to a government." 
Perhaps a few sentences and paragraphs from 



166 



AT HOME. 



General Butler'3 recent speeches may be in place 
here, to indicate his present opinions upon the 
momentous ■ issues upon which tiie people are 
called, from time to time, to express their judg- 
ment. 



" I think I may say that the principal mem- 
bers of my staff, and the prominent officers of 
my regiments, without any exception, went out 
to New Orleans hunker democrats of tlie hunker- 
est sort ; for it was but natural that I should 
draw around me those whose views were simi- 
lar to my own ; and every individual of the 
number has come to precisely the same belief on 
the question of slavery, as I put forth in my fare- 
well address to the people of New Orleans. 
This change came about from seeing what all of 
them saw, da^ by day. In this war the entire 
property of the South is against us, because 
almost the entire property of the South is bound 
up in that institution. This is a well-known 
fact, probably ; but I did not become fully aware 
of it until I had spent some time in New Orleans. 
The South has $163,000,000 of taxable property 
in slaves, and $163,000,000 in all other kinds of 
property. And this was the cause why the 
merchants of New Orleans had not remained 
loyal. They found themselves ruined — all their 
property being loaned upon planters' notes, and 
mortgages upon plantations and slaves, all of 
which property is now worthless. Again I 
learned, what I did not know before, that this is 
not a rebellion against us, but simply a rebellion 
ta perpetuate power in the hands of a few slave- 
holders. At first I did not believe that slavery 
was the cause of the rebellion, but attributed it 
to Davis, Slidell, and others, who had brought it 
about to make political triumphs by which to 
regain their former ascendency. The rebellion 
is against the humble and poorer classes ; and 
there were in the South large numbers of secret 
societies dealing in cabalistic signs, organized (or 
the purpose of perpetuating the power of the 
rich over the poor. It was feared that these 
common people would come into power, and that 
three or lour hundred thousand men could not 
hold out against eight millions. The first move- 
ment of these men was to make land the basis 
of political power, and that was not enough, for 
land could not be owned by many persons. 
TLfcn they annexed land to slaves, and divided 
the property into movable and immovable. 

" I am not generally accused of being a hu- 
manitarian — at least, not by my southern friends. 
When I saw the utter demoralization of the 
people, resulting from slavery, ii struck me that 
it was an institution which should be thrust out 
of the Union. I had, on reading Mrs. Stowe's 
book — Uncle Tom's Cabin — believed it to be an 
overdrawn, highly- wrought picture of southern 
life ; but I have seen with my own eyes, and 
heard with my own ears, many things which go 
beyond her book, as much as her book does be- 
3'ond an ordinary school-girl's novel. 

* * * * * 

" Yes, no right-minded man could be sent to 
New Orleans without returning an unconditional 
anti-slavery man, even though the roof of the 
houses were not taken off, and the full extent 
of the corruption exposed. 



"The war can only be successfully prosecuted 
by the destruction of slavery, which was made 
the corner-stone of the confederac3^ This is the 
second time in the history of the world that a 
rebellion of propertj^-liolders against the lower 
classes and against the government was ever 
carried on. The Hungarian rebellion was one of 
that kind, and that failed, as must every rebel- 
lion of men of property against government and 
against the rights of the many. One of the 
greatest arguments which I can find against 
slavery is the demoralizing influences it exerts 
upon the lower white classes, who were brought 
into secession by the hundred because they 
ignorantly supposed that great wrong was to be 
done tliem by the Lincoln government, as they 
termed it, if the North succeeded. Therefore, if 
you meet an old hunker democrat, and send him 
for sixty days to New Orleans, and he comes 
back a hunker still, he is merely incorrigible. 
There is one thing about the president's edict of 
emancipation to which I would call attention. 
In Louisiana he had excepted from freedom 
about eighty-seven thousand slaves. These 
comprise all the negroes held in the Lafourche 
district, who have been emancipated already for 
some time under the law which frees slaves 
taken in rebellious territory by our armies. 
Others of these negroes had been freed by the 
proclamation of September, which declared all 
slaves to be free whose owners should be in 
arms on the first of January. The slaves of 
Frenchmen were free because the Code Civile 
expressly prohibits a Frenchman from hold- 
ing slaves, and, by the 7th and 8th Victoria, 
evL'ry Englishman holding slaves subjects him- 
self to a penalty of $500 for each. Now, take 
the negroes of secessionists, Frenchmen and 
Eiiglislimen out of the eighty-seven thousand, 
and the number is reduced to an infinitesimal 
portion of those excepted. This fact came to my 
knowledge from having required every inhabi- 
tant in the city to register his natiouality. After 
all these names had ihirly been registered, I ex- 
plained these laws to the English and French 
consuls, and thus replied to demands which 
had been made by English and French residenta 
of Louisiana upon the government for slaves 
alleged to have been seized."* 

THE WAR DEBT. 

" A question has been a thousand times asked 
mo since I arrived home, how is this great war 
debt to be paid? That speaks to the material 
interests. How can we ever be able to pay this 
war debt? Who can pay it? Who shall pay 
it ? Shall we tax the coming generations ? 
Shall we overtax ourselves ? For one — and I 
speak as a citizen to citizens — I think I can see 
clearly a way in which this great expense can 
bo paid by those who ought to pay it, and be 
borne by those who ought to bear it. Let us 
bring the South into subjection to the Union. 
We have offered them equality. If they choose 
it, let them have it. But, at all events, they 
must come under the power of the Union. And 
when once this war is closed by that subjuga- 
tion, if you please, if necessary, then the in- 



1S63 



Speech at Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, Jan. 8, 



AT HOAIE. 



167 



•creased productions. of the great staples of the 
South, cotton and tobacco — with which we 
ought, and can, and shall supply the world — this 
increased production, by the immigration of 
wliite men into the South, where labor shall be 
honorable ixs it is here, will pay the debt. "With 
the millions of hogsheads of tlie one, and the 
millions of bales of the other, and with a proper 
internal tax, which shall be paid by England 
and France, who have largely caused this mis- 
chief, tills debt will be paid. Without stopping 
to be didactic or to discuss principles here, let 
•us examine this matter for a moment. They are 
willing to pay fifty and sixty cents a pound for 
<!otton ; the past has demonstrated that even by 
tlie uneconomic;d use of slave labor, it can be 
piofita'dy raised — ay, profitably beyond all con- 
•ception of agricultural profit here — at ten cents 
a pound. A simple impost often cents a pound, 
which will increase it to twenty cents only, will 
pay the interest of a war debt double what it is 
to-day. And that cotton can be more profitably 
raised under free labor than under slave labor, 
no man who has examined the subject doubts. 
By the imposition of this tax those men who 
fitted out the Alabama and sent her forth to 
prey upon our commerce, will be compelled by 
the laws of trade and the laws of nations to pay 
for tho mischief they have done. So that when 
we look around in this country, which has just 
begun to put forth her strength, beaiuse no 
•country has ever come to her full strength until 
•her institutions have proved themselves strong 
■enough to govern the country against the will, 
•even the voluntary will of the people — wiien 
this government, which has now demonstrated 
itself to be the strongest government in the 
world, puts forth her strength as to men, and 
when this country of ours, richer and more 
abundant in its harvests and in its productions 
than any other country on earth, puts forth her 
riches, we have a strength in men, we liave an 
amount in money, to battle the world for liberty, 
and for the freedom to do, in the borders of tlie 
United States and on the continent of America, 
that which God, when he sent us fortii as a mis- 
sionary nation, intended we should do. So, 
allow me to return your words of congratulation 
and your words of welcome, with words of good 
cheer. Be of good cheer I God gave us tliis 
continent to civilize and to free, as an example 
to the nations of the earth ; and if He has struck 
us in His wrath, because we have halted in our 
work, let us begin again and go on, not doubt- 
ing that we shall have His blessing to the end. 
Be, therefore, I say, of good cheer; there can 
be no doubt of this issue. We feel the struggle ; 
we feel what it costs to carry on this war. Go 
■with me to Louisiana — go with me to the South, j 
and you shall see what it costs our enemies to 
.carry on this war; and you will have no doubt, 
as I have none, of the result of this unhappy 
strife, out of which the nation shall come stronger, 
better, purified, North and South — better than 
«ver before."* 

NO DANGER FROM THE ARMY. 

" There never has been any division of sen- 
timent in the army itself They have always 



■* Speech at Boston, Jan. 13, 1863. 



been for the Union unconditionallj", for the gov- 
ernment and the laws at any and all times. 
And who are this army ? Are they men differ- 
ent from us? Not at all. I see some here that 
have come back from the army, and are now 
waiting to recover their lieaUh to go back and 
join that army. Are they to be any different 
on the banks of the Potomac, or in the marshes 
of Louisiana, or struggling with the turbid cur- 
rent of the Mississippi than thoyare here? Are 
our sons, our brothers, to have different thoughts 
and different feelings from us, simply because to- 
day they wear blue and to-morrow they wear 
black, or to-day they wear black and to-morrow 
they wear blue ? Not at all. They are from 
us, they are of us, they are with us. The same 
love of liberty, ay, and you will \ ardon me for 
saying it, a little more love for the Union, have 
caused them to go out than has actuated tliose 
who have stayed behind. The same desire to 
see the constitution restored has sent them out 
that animates us ; the same love of good govern- 
ment, the same faith in this great experiment of 
freedom and free government that actuates us 
actuates them, and there need be no trouble, ft 
seems to me, in the mind of any man upon the 
question of what is the anuy to do. There need 
be no fears. 1 have seen men, too, good, virtu- 
ous, candid, upright, patriotic men, who seem 
to feel this great increase of the army to be 
somewhat dangerous to our liberties. Is the 
aimy to take away their own liberties ? is the 
army to destroy their own country ? is the army 
to do anything that patriotic men won't do? 
Oh, no; they answer with universal accord upon 
that subject. Then where is the danger men 
See ? Why, in the olden time, at the head of 
large armies, some ambitious man, some ambi- 
tious military leader, gets the control of the 
ai my and destroys the liberty of the country ; 
but the ditSculty is, the examples of the nations 
of the whole world are by no means analogies 
for this. No general of the old world ever com- 
manded such an army ; no general of the old 
world ever had such a country ; no general of 
the old world ever had sucli a government to 
fight for, to fight with, to fight under, or will 
have ever and for ever ; and no general of the 
old world, no general thus far on the face of the 
earth ever was in a country, where, by elevating 
his countrj' first, last, and all the time, he might 
more surely elevate himself But we do not de- 
pend upon either the patriotism, or the ability, 
or the prudence, or the courage of any one man ; 
we depend upon the courage, the patriotism, 
and the intelligence of this half million of men 
in the army who know that tho place to regulate 
government affairs is in the ballot-box, and who, 
as long as they can get matters regulated, and 
can have lair play through the ballot-box, will 
go home*'aiid be much more ready to use the 
ballot-box than the cartridge-box. 

" Therefore, I say to you, sir, let no man have 
fear on this subject. There are no better friends 
of free institutions, there are no more intelligent, 
no truer men and citizens at home and in peace 
than in the army of tlie United States."* 

RECONSTRUCTION, 
" I am not for the Union as it was. I have 
" Sjjeecli at Boston, April, 1863. 



168 



AT HOME. 



the honor to say, as a democrat, and an Andrew 
Jackson democrat, I am not for the Union to be 
again as it was. Understand me, I was for the 
Union as it was, because I saw, or thoughc I 
saw, the troubles in the future whicli have burst 
upon us; but having undergone those troubles, 
having spent all this blood and this treasure, I 
do not mean to go back again and be cheek to 
jowl, as I was before with South Carohna, if I 
can help it. Mark me now ; let no man misun- 
derstand me; and I repeat, lest I may be mis- 
understood (for there are none so ditBcult to 
understand as those that don't want to) — mark 
me again, I say, I do not mean to give up a 
single inch of the soil of South Carolina. If I 
had been living at that time, and had the position, 
the will, and the ability, I would have dealt 
with South Carolina as Jackson did, and kept 
her in the Union at all hazards ; but now she 
has gone out, and I will take care that when she 
comes in again she will come in better beliaved ; 
that she shall no longer be the fire-brand of the 
Union, ay, that she shall enjoy what her people 
never yet enjoyed, the blessings of a republican 
form of government. And, therefore, in that 
view I am not for the reconstruction of the 
Union as it was. I have spent treasure and 
blood enough upon it, in conjunction with my 
fellow-citizens, to make it a little better, and I 
think we can have a better Union. It was good 
enough if it had been let alone. The old house 
was good enough for me, but the South pulled 
it down, and I propose, when we build it up, to 
build it up with all the modern improvements. 
Another one of the logical sequences, it seems 
to me, that follow inexorably, and is not to be 
shunned, from the proposition that we are deal- 
ing with alien enemies, wiiat is our duty with 
regard to the confiscation of their property ? 
And that would seem to me to be very easy of 
settlement under the constitution, and without 
any discussion, if my first proposition is right. 
Hasn't it been held from the beginning of the 
world down to this daj^, from the time the 
Israelites took possession of tlie land of Canaan, 
which they got from alien enemies, hasn't it been 
held that the whole of the property, of those 
alien enemies belongs to the conqueror, and that 
it has been at his mercy and his clemency wliat 
should be done with it? And for one, I would 
take it and give it to the loyal man, who was 
loyal from the heart, at the South, enough to 
make him as well off as he was before, and I would 
take the balance of it and distribute it among the 
volunteer soldiers who have gone forth in the 
service of their country ; and so far as I know 
them, if we should settle South Carolina with 
them, iu the course of a lew j'ears I should be 
quite willing to leceive her back into the Union."* 

ARMlNa THE XEGROES. 

"If these men are alien enemies, is there any 
objection that you know of, and if so state it, to 
our arming one portion of that foreign country 
against the other, while they are fighting us? 
Suppo.se we were at war with England, who 
liere would get up in New York and sa}^ we 
must not arm the Irish, lest they should '.art 
some Englishman ? Well, at onetime .^oc very 
far gone, all those Englishmen wf.e our grand- 
Speech at New York, April 2, 1S63. 



fathers' brothers. Either they or we erred ; buB 
we are now separate nations, arising out of the 
contest. So again I .say, if you will look carefuUy- 
you will see that there can be no objection for 
another reason. There is no law, either of war 
or of international law, or law of governmental 
action that I know of, which prevents a country 
arming any portion of its citizens or its subjects 
for the defense of that portion, or of any other, 
and they become (if they do not take part with 
those rebels) simpl}' our citizens, residing upon 
our territory, which at the present hour is usurped 
bj' our enemies. At this moment, and in the 
waning hour, I do not propose to discuss, more 
than to hint at these various subjects. But 
there is one question that I have been so ofien< 
asked, that I want to make ati answer to, once 
for all, and when I have answered it to every- 
body, nobody will ask me again, and that is this 
(and most frequently am I asked that question 
by my old democratic friends) : ■ Why, General- 
Butler, what is your experience? Will the 
negroes fight ? To that I have to answer, that 
upon that subject I have no personal experience^ 
I left the Department of the Gulf before they 
were fairly brought into action; but they did 
fight under Jackson at Chalmette. More than 
that, I will bring in some other man to answer 
that question. Let Napoleon III. answer it, 
who has hired them to do what the veterans of 
the Crimea can not do — to whip the Mexicans. I 
will answer it in another form. Let the veterans 
of Napoleon the First, under his brother-in-law, 
Le Clerc, who wore whipped out of St. Domingo- 
by them, tell whether they will fight or nob. 
I will ask you to remember it in another fornb 
still. What has been the demoralizing effect 
upon them as a race by their contact with the 
white man, I know not; but I cannot forget 
that they and their fathers would net have beeoi 
slaves except ihey were captives of war in their 
own countries, iu hand to hand fights am(mg the 
several chiefs, and were sold into slavery because 
they were captives in war. Thoj^ would fighfi 
at some time, and if you want to know anymore 
about it, I can only advise you to try them."* 

THE QUESTION BEFORE US. 

" No Union man. wants to abrogate the old 
constitution. It is good' enough. The only 
question is, ho-w caa we take back an abscond- 
ing member of the fii'ra under the old articles of 
agreement."! 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

SOMMARY. 

The speciality of General Butler is this: He- 
is a great achiever. He is the victorious kind of 
man. He is that combination of qualities and 
powers which is most potent in bringing things 
to pass. LTpon reviewing his life, we find that 
he has been signally successful in the under- 
takings which have seriously tasked his powers. 

A good example of his ready adaptation of 
means to ends, has just been related to me by 



* Speecliat New York, April, 1863. 

t Speech .It YiarxUhnvg, Heptemher 1863. 



SUMMART. 



169< 



one of his legal friends. A wealthy corporation 
in New England refused to pay for a bridge, on 
the ground that the contractor had been a few 
days behind the stipulated time in completing it. 
General Butler was retained on behalf of the con- 
tractor. Aware that he really had no case, 
though the delay in finishing the bridge was 
abundantly excusable, he brought the cause to 
the bar of public opinion. In other words, he 
told the story to every man and group of men 
whom chance threw in bis way. He caused 
endless paragraphs upon the subject to be in- 
serted in the newspapers. The bridge was just- 
ly commended as a most admirable piece of 
work, and remarks were appended upon the soul- 
lessness of a corporation, which could avail itself 
of the letter of a contract to deprive a fellow- 
citizen of the reward of his labors. In a word, 
he enlisted the feelings and the judgment of the 
whole community on the side of the contractor, 
and thus shamed the corporation into a compro- 
mise. You may call this, if you please, an illegiti- 
mate mode of proceeding for a learned advocate. 
It remains true, nevertheless, that the plan 
adopted answered the end proposed, and that 
the end proposed was justice. 

It may be profitable to inquire what is the 
secret of General Butler's success. 

Brains. That is a great part of the secret. 
This man has understood the matter. He has 
been able to grasp the situation at all times, and 
to know what the situation required at all times. 
From the hour when he shook hands with Jef- 
ferson Davis, in December, 1860, to the present 
moment, he has never been groping in the dark, 
or feeling his way to a policy. And his opinion, 
generally scouted at the moment, has always 
been justified by the progress of events. He 
was right in getting Massachusetts ready to 
march. He took the right road to Washington. 
He was right in regarding Fortress Monroe as 
the base against Richmond. The flash of in- 
spiration which pronounced the negroes contra- 
band of war, was right. Each step in the pro- 
gress of his mind upon the negro question was 
right at the time and in the circumstances. 
That single suggestion of a board to decide upon 
the fitness of officers, was worth all he has re- 
ceived from the government. His order, making 
officers pay for the pillage committed by their 
men, was another masterly stroke. Better still, 
perhaps, it would be to make the whole regiment 
responsible — privates as well as officers. At 
New Orleans, he was magnificently right, both 
in theory and in practice. Every day brought 
forth some new proof of the fertility of his mind 
— of his genius for governing. That policy of 
isolating, crippling, and destroying the malig- 
nants, and of raising in the scale of being the 
laboring multitude, white, black, or yellow, is the 
only policy which can ever make the country 
A. NATION, homogeneous, united, powerful and 
free. No man has, no man can, point out 
another path to permanent reconstruction. To 
dethrone the false king. Minority, and to crown 
in his stead the true king. Majority — that was 
the scheme attempted in Louisiana. But one 
thing is wanting to its complete success — the 
total abolition of slavery, which constitutes the 
power of the ruling faction, and keeps in hea- 
thenish bondage every poor man iu the South, 
whatever his color. 



General Butler, on tlie other hand, is nO' 
dreamer or theorizer. Dreamers and theorizers 
are good and helpful ; but he is not one of 
them. His forte is to devise expedients, to 
meet a new state of things, or to effect a special 
purpose. He is singularly happy in framing a 
measure, on the spur of the moment, which pre- 
cisely answers the end proposed, and works 
good in many directions not specially contem- 
plated. His plan for feeding the poor of New 
Orleans, for example, besides effecting the main 
purpose of saving thousands from starvation, 
brought home to the authors of their ruin a part 
of the ill-consequences of their conduct, and 
chimed in with his general policy of suppressing 
one class and raising another. 

Brains are the great secret. He is endowed 
with a large, healthy, active, instructed, ex- 
perienced brain — Heaven's best gift, and the 
medium through which all other good gifts are 
given. 

Courage, wiU, firmness, nerve— call it what 
you will — General Butler has it. He has not 
been called to face the leaden rain and iron hail 
of battle ; but he has exhibited on every occf>- 
sion the courage which the occasion required. 
He has shown a singular insensibility to the 
phantoms which play so important a part in war. 
He has shown the courage to go forward and 
meet the imaginary danger, as well as the real. 
He has the courage of opinion — so rare in a re- 
public where public men all want the favor of 
the many. He dares accept the remote con- 
sequences of a policy. He dares to take the 
responsibility. He dares to incur obloquy. He 
dares to tell the truth, and all the truth. I ven- 
ture to declare, that in the many thousand pageS' 
of his writings as an officer of the government, 
there is not one intentional misstatement or un- 
fair suppression. Falsehood is the natural re- 
sort of timidity. A brave man does not lie, and. 
need not. 

Honesty. "With opportunities of irregular 
gain, such as no other man has had since th& 
days of Warren Hastings, his hands are spotless. 
He could have made a safe half million by a 
wink ; and, if he had done so, he would have 
come home with a peculiar and marked reputa- 
tion for integrity; because then he would have 
had an interest to create such a reputation, and. 
could not have indulged the noble carelessness- 
with regard to his good name which is the 
privilege of a man strong in conscious rectitude. 
The fact that so able a man is accused of 
corruption, is itself a kind of proof of his 
honesty. 

Humor. The happy word is part of the art 
of governing. There is apt to be a fund of humor 
in good victorious men, which enables them to 
get the laugh of mankind on their side. Would 
Lord Palmerston ever have been premier of Eng- 
land without his jokes, or Mr. Lincoln president 
of the United Slates unless he had first over- 
spread acres of prairie mass-meetings with a 
grin ? The point, humor and vivacity of Gene- 
ral Butler's utterances have been an element of 
his success in the service of his country. 

Faith. " Aft;er our return to the North," says 
one of the general's staff, " an ex-mayor of Chi- 
cago was introduced to the general at the St. 
Nicholas Hotel in New York. It was just at a 
time when our cause looked very gloomy. The 



t70 



SUMMAEY. 



mayor was evidently much depressed by the in- 
dications of national misfortune, and in a tone of 
great despondency asked the general — 

" ' Do you believe we shall ever get through 
this war successfully ? 

" ' Yes, sir,' the general answered, very de- 
cidedly. 

" ' Well, but how ?' asked the mayor. 

" ' God knows, I don't ; but I know He does, 
80 I am satisfied)' the general replied.* I have 
often heard him reply thus to anxious questioners. 

" ' We ought to ma/rch through,' he once said ; 
'but we shan't; I'm afraid we shall only tumble 
through. No matter ; we shall get through some- 
how.' " 

Humanity. The papers relating to our gene- 
ral's mihtary career teem with evidence that he 
is a kind, considerate man. He governed his 
soldiers strictly, but always so as to promote 
their best interests. He was lenient and forgiv- 
ing toward offenses of inadvertence, or such 33 
betrayed only a weakness or infirmity of nature. 
He was generous to the poor. He was solicitous 
to bestow honor where it was due. He was in- 
.genious in devising ways of procuring promotion 
to deserving officers. He sympathized with the 
anxiety of parents for their sons in the army, 
and assuaged many a bleeding heart by the kind 
though tfulness with which ill news was broken 
to them. 

Courtesy. The etiquette of his position was 
most punctiliously observed; not more so to- 
ward admirals and general officers than boy lieu- 
tenants and private soldiers. To the enemies of 
his country he could be a roaring lion or a 
growling bear. The men of his command and 
and the loyal citizens of his department enjoyed 
the .satisfaction of knowing that their general 
was a gentleman. No littleness toward other 
commanders ; only gratitude and admiration for 
the Farraguts, the Grants, the Rosecranses, the 
Meades, and all the other heroes of the war. 



AUantio Monthly, July, 1363. 



Consideration, too, for the many able and well- 
intentioned men who have been less successful. 

Patriotism. No man should be praised for 
loving his country, any more than for loving his 
mother. If the country is lost, we are all lost. 
If the country is disgraced, we all hang our 
heads in shame. To love one's country is a part 
of our natural and proper self-love. But if there 
is one man who has gone along more entirely 
than he with his country in this great struggle 
to preserve its life; if there is one man who has 
taken the great cause more deeply to heart, or 
striven with a purer aim to do his part in the 
mighty and holy work, he must, indeed, be the 
very model of a pure and burning patriot. Let 
none of us, however, claim for himself or for an- 
other any pre-eminence in patriotism. In this 
alone we are all agreed, that if it takes as long 
to restore the country as it took the Spaniards to 
expel the Moors from Spain (800 years), the 
work is to be done. If the treasury is bankrupt, 
no matter, it is to be done. If we have to make 
twenty truces, still it is to be dona If we pause, 
it will be only to renew the strife as soon as we 
have taken breath. 

Brains without courage may be a delusion and 
a snare. To have courage without brains is to 
be a human bull-dog. Brains and valor without 
experience in human affairs, without knowledge 
of the world and mankind, will often lead a man 
far astray. Brains, valor and experience united, 
still require the honest heart, the lofty aim. And 
even all these are ineffective in times like these, 
unless there is also an enormous capacity for la- 
bor. But when a man presents himself to view 
who possesses a fertile genius, courage, know- 
ledge, experience, patriotism and honesty, with 
a soundness of bodily constitution that gives him 
the complete use of all his powers, a country 
must be rich indeed in able men, if it can afford, 
at a time of public danger, to dispense with his 
services. The country will not dispense with 
them willingly. 



APPENDICES. 



I. 



THE ALSTON AND REED DUEL. 

A gentleman obliges me with some additional 
particulars of this bloody affair, and corrects 
some errors in my narrative of it : 

"I arrived in Tallahassee," he writes, "the 
day after the duel, and found it to be the only 
topic of conversation. I was well acquainted 
with Reed's second (Capt. J. B. Guion, U. S. A., 
a Mississippian), and heard all the particulars of 
the duel from him. These you have given with 
great accuracy, until near the close there comes 
an error. Reed was uninjured, as you say, and 
he then took a quiet, deliberate aim at Alston, 
and fired at the word " fire" — as cool a murder 
as ever was committed. It was justified by his 
friends, on the ground that the terms of the duel 
were such that one of them had to be killed be- 
fore they left the ground, and that it would have 
been very silly in Reed to give Alston a second 
chance. The second act of the drama occurred 
a week or two after, for Willis Alston was in 
Texas, and came thence after hearing of his bro- 
ther's death. I was taking tea at the hotel in 
Tallahassee ; the room was crowded, and while 
all were eating we were startled by a pistol 
shot, and a ball went just over my head, and 
lodged in the wall ; it was followed by a second 
shot, and a general rush of the company look 
place. This is what had happened: Alston was 
sitting at the table near the door, when Reed 
entered and was passing up. Alston stood up 
and called Reed by name, and, as he turned, 
fired and ran aioay. Reed drew his pistol, fol- 
lowed him to the door, and fired without hitting, 
when Alston immediately ran back at him and 
with a ioivie knife ripped him entirely open. I saw 
Reed's wound myself, and how he ever survived 
it is a wonder. Alston, supposing he had killed 
Reed, cleared out and went back to Texas. 
Reed recovered, and it was some luonths alter- 
wards that Alston came back to complete liis 
work. He was as cowardl}' as he was rulRanly, 
and did not dare to face Reed in a street light. 
He was in a store in the main street of Tallahas- 
see when Reed passed by, and, stepping to the 
door, he fired the contents of a double-barrelled 
gun into Reed's back. He was arrested and 
confined in jail to save him from being '■ lynched" 
for public opinion was at that time on Reed's 
side, and probably the people did not so much 
mind the killing as the manner ; thej' did not 
like the shooting in the back, it wasn't a fair 
fight. He escaped from prison, dressed in his 
mother's clothes, and got oft' to Toxaa, where he 
was killed as you describe. 

"I was in and about Tallahassee all the time 
which embraced these events, and knew the de- 



tails very perfectly at the time. Many o) them 
I have forgotten, but such as I have here ^iven 
you are correct" 



II. 



Order issued by General Butler at Fortress Monroe 
relative to the Negroes in the Department of 
Virginia and North Carolina. 

Head Quarters 18th Armt Corps, 
Department of Virginia and North Carolina, 
Fort Monroe, Va., December b, 1863. 

GENERAL ORDERS NO. 46. 

The recruitment of colored troops has become 
the settled purpose of the Government. It is 
therefore the duty of every officer and soldier to 
aid in carying out that purpose, by every proper 
means, irrespective of personal predilection. To 
do this effectually, the former condition of the 
blacks, their change of relation, the new rights 
acquired by them, the new obligations imposed 
upon them, the dutyof tlie government to them, 
the great stake they have in the war, and the 
claims their ignorance, and the helplessness 
of their women and children, make upon each of 
us, who hold a higher grade in social and political 
life, must all be carefully considered. 

It will also be taken into account that the 
colored soldiers have none of the machinery of 
" state aid" for the support of their families while 
fighting their battles, so liberally provided for the 
white soldiers, nor the generous bounties given 
by tlie state and national governments in the 
loyal states — although this last is far more than 
compensated to the black man by the great 
boon awarded to him, the result of the war — 
Freedom for himself .^nd his race forever I 

To deal with these several aspects of this 
subject, so that as few of the negroes as possible 
shall become chargeable either upon the bounty 
of government or the charities of the benevolent, 
and at the same time to do justice to those who 
shall enlist, to encourage enlistment, and to 
cause all capable of working to employ them- 
selves for their support, and tiiat of their families, 
either in arms or other service, and that the 
rights of negroes and the government may both 
be protected, it is ordered : 

I. In this department, after the first day of 
December, instant, and until otherwise ordered, 
every able bodied colored man who shall enlist 
and be mustered into the service of the United 
States for three years or during the war, shall be 
paid as bounty, to supply his immediate wants, 
the sum of ten (10) dollars. And it shall be the 
duty of each mustering officer to return to these 
head-quarters duplicate rolls of recruits so en- 
listed and mustered into tlie service, on the 10th, 



172 



APPENDICES. 



20th and last da.ys of each month, so that the 
bounty may be promptly paid and accounted for. 

II. To the family of each colored soldier so 
enlisted and mustered, so long: as he shall remain 
in the service and behave well, shall be furnished 
suitable subsistence, under the direction of the su- 
perintendents of negro atlairs, or their assistants ; 
and each soldier shall be furnished with a cer- 
tificate of subsistence for his family, as soon as 
be is mustered; and any soldier deserting, or 
wlioee pay and allowances are forfeited by court- 
martial, shall be reported by his captain to the 
superintendent of the district where his family 
lives, and the subsistence may be stopped — 
provided that such subsistence shall be continued 
for at least si.t months to the family of any 
colored soldier who shall die in the service by 
disease, wounds or battle. 

III. Kvery enlisted colored man shall have 
the same \iuiform, clothing, arms, equipments, 
camp equipage, rations, medical and hospital 
treatment as are furnished to the United States 
soldiers of a like arm of the service, unless, upon 
request, some modification thereof shall be 
granted from these head-quarters. 

lY. The pay of the colored soldiers shall be 
ten (10) dollars per n)onth — three of which may 
be retained for clothing. But the non-commis- 
sioned officers, whether colored or white, shall 
have the same addition to their pay as other non- 
commissioned officers. It is, however, hoped 
and believed by the commanding general, that 
Congres.s, as an act of justice, will increase the 
pay of the colored troops to a uniform rate with 
other troops of the United States. He can see 
no reason why a colored soldier should be asked 
to fight upon leas pay than any other. The 
colored man fills an equal space in ranks while 
he lives, and an equal grave when he falls. 

V. It appears by returns from the several 
recruiting officers that enlistments are discour- 
aged, and the government is competing against 
itseli; because of the payment of sums larger 
than the pay of the colored soldiers to tlie 
colored employees in the several staff depart- 
ments, and that, too, while the charities of the 
government and individuals are supporting the 
families of the laborer. It is further ordered : 
That no officer or other person on behalf of the 
government, or to be paid by the government, on 
land in this department, shall employ or hire 
any colored man lor a gieater rate of wages 
than ten dollars per month, or the pay of a 
colored soldier and rations, or fitieen dollars per 
mouth without rations, except that mechanics 
and skilled laborers may be employed at other 
rates — regard being had, however, to the pay of 
the soldier in fixing such rates. 

VI. The best use duiing the war for an able- 
bodied colored man, as well for liimself and the 
country, is lo be a soldier; it is therefore further 
ordered : That no colored man, between the 
ages of eighteen and forty-five, who can pass the 
surgeon's examination for a soldier, shall be 
employed on land by any person iti behalf of the 
government — (mechanics and skilled laborers 
alone e.vcepled.) And it shall bo the duty of 
each officer or other person employing colored 
labor in this departn)eut to bo paid by or on 
behalf of the government, to cause each laborer 
to be examined by the surgeons detailed to ex- 
amine colored recruits, who shall furnish ^''e 



laborer with a certificate of disability or ability, 
as the case may be, and after the first day of 
January next, no emplojmicnt rolls of colored 
laborers will be certified or passed at these head- 
quarters wherein this order has not been com- 
ph'ed y/'nh, and which are not vouched for by such 
certificate of disabilitj'- of the emplovees. And 
whenever hereafter a colored employee of the 
government shall not be paid wilhiti sixty days- 
after his wages shall become due and payable, 
the officer or other person having the funds to 
make such payment, shall be dismissed the 
service, subject to the approval of tiie president. 

VII. Promptness of paj-ment of labor, and the 
facilities furnished by the government and the 
benevolent, will enable colored laborers in the 
service of the government to be supported from^ 
the proceeds of their labor: TJierefore no sub- 
sistence will be furni.'thed to the families of those 
employed by the government at labor, but the 
Superintendent of Negro Affairs may issue sub- 
sistence to those so employed, and charge the- 
araount against their wages, and furnish the 
officer in charge of payment of such laborers 
with the amounts so issued, on the first day of 
each month, or be himself chargeable with the 
amount so issued. 

VIII. Political freedom rightly defined i» 
liberty to work, and to be protected in the full 
enjoyment of the fruits of labor; and no one 
with ability to work should enjoy the fruits of 
another's labor: TJierefore, no subsi.'stence wilJ 
be permitted to any negro or his family, with 
whom he lives, who is able to work aud does 
not work. It is, therefore, the duty of the Su- 
perintendent of Negro Affairs to furnish employ- 
ment to all the negroes able to labor, and see 
that their families are supplied with the neces- 
saries of life. Any negro that refuses to work 
when able, and neglects his family, will be 
arrested aud reported to these bead-quarters, to 
be sent to labor on the fortifications, where he 
will be made to work. No negro will be required 
to labor on the Sabbath, unless upon the most 
urgent necessity. 

iX. The commanding general is informed that 
officers and soldiers in the department have, by 
impressment and force, compelled the labor of 
negroes, sometimes for private use, ^nd often 
wit! tout any imperative necessity. 

Negroes have riiihts so long as they fulfill their 
duties : Therefore it is ordered, that no officer or 
soldier shall impress or force to labor for any 
private purpose whatever, any negro ; and negro 
labor shall not be impressed or forced for any 
public purpose, unless under orders from these 
head-quarters, or because of imperative military 
necessity, and where the labor of white citizens 
would be compelled, if present. And any 
orders of any officer compelling any labor by 
negroes or white citizens shall be forthwith re- 
ported to these head-quarters, and the reasons 
which called for the necessity for such order, be 
fully set forth. 

In case of a necessity compelling negro or 
white labor for the purpose of building fortifica- 
tions, bridges, roads, or aiding transportation or 
other military purpose, it shall be the duty of the 
superintendent of negroes in that district, lo 
cause employment rolls to be made of those so 
compelled to labor, and to present said rolls, as 
soon as the necessity ceases, to the assistant 



APPENDICES. 



173 



■quartermaster of the district, that the laborers 
may be paid ; and the superintendent shall see 
xhat those thai labor shall have proper sub- 
sistence, and may draw from the Commissary of 
Subsistence rations therefor. Any oflBcer offend- 
ing willfully against the provisions of this order, 
will be dismissed the service, subject to the ap- 
proval of the President. 

And no negro shall be. impressed into military 
service of the United States, except under orders 
from these head -quarters — by a draft, wliich shall 
equally apply to the white and colored citizen. 

X. The theory upon which negroes are re- 
ceived into the Union lines, and employed, 
either as laborers or soldiers, is that every negro 
able to work who leaves the rebel lines, dimin- 
ishes by so much the producing power of the 
rebellion to supply itself with food and labor ne- 
cessary to be done outside of military operations, 
•to sustain its armies ; and the United States 
thereby gains either a soldier or a producer. 
"Women and children are received, because it 
would be manifestly iniquitous and unjust to 
take the husband and father and leave the wife 
and child to ill-treatment and starvation. Wo- 
men and children are also received when unac- 
companied by the husband and father, because 
the negro has the domestic affections in as strong 
a degree as the white man, and however far 
South his master may drive him, he will sooner 
or later return to his family. 

Therefore it is ordered : That every officer and 
soldier of this command shall aid by every means 
in his power, the coming of all colored people 
within the Union lines: that all officers com- 
manding expeditions and raids shall bring in 
with them all the negroes possible, aftbrding 
them transportation, aid, protection and en- 
couragement. Any officer bringing or admitting 
negroes within his lines shall forthwith report 
the same to the Superintendent of Negro Affairs 
-within his district, so that they may be cared for 
and protected, enlisted, or set to work. Any 
officer, soldier or citizen who shall dissuade, 
hinder, prevent, or endeavor to hinder or pre- 
vent any negro from coming within the Union 
lines; or shall dissuade, hinder, prevent, or en- 
deavor to prevent or hinder any negro from en- 
listing ; or who shall insult, abuse, ridicule or 
interfere with, for the purpose of casting ridicule 
or contempt upon colored troops, or individual 
soldiers, because they are colored, shall be 
deemed to be, and held liable under the several 
acts of Congress applicable to this subject, ajKi 
be punished with military severity for obstruct- 
ing recruiting. 

XI. In consideration of the ignorance and 
helplessness of the negroes, arising from the 
condition in which they have been heretofore 
held, it becomes necessary that the government 
should exercise more and peculiar care and pro- 
tection over them than over its white citizens, 
accustomed to self-control and self-support, so 
that their sustenance may be assured, their 
rights respected, their helplessness protected, 
and their wrongs redressed ; and that there be 
one system of management of negro afiairs. 

It is ordered, That Lieutenant-Colonel J. Burn- 
ham Kinsman, A. D. C, be detailed at these 
head-quarters, as General Supenintendeiit of 
Negro Affairs in this department, to whom al' 
«-eport8 and communications relatiDg thereto, 



required to be sent to these head-quarters, shall 
be addressed. He shall have a general superin- 
tendence over all the colored people of this de- 
partment ; and all other Superintendents of 
Negro Affairs shall report to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kinsman, who is acting for the commanding- 
general in this behalf 

All the territory of Virginia south of the James 
River, shall be under the superintendence of 
Captain Orlando Brown, assistant quartermaster. 
All the territory north of James River shall be 
under the superintendence of Captain Charles B. 
Wilder, assistant quartermaster. The district of 
North Carolina shall be under the superinten- 
dence of the Reverend Horace James, chaplain. 

Each superintendent shall have the power to 
.select and appoint such assistant superintendents 
for such sub-districts in his district as may be 
necessary, to be approved by the commanding 
general ; such appointments to be confirmed by 
the commanding general. 

The pay of such assistant, if a civilian, shall in 
no case exceed the pay of a first class clerk in 
the quartermaster's department. 

It shall be the duty of each superintendent, 
under the direction of the general superintendent, 
to take care of the colored inhabitants of his dis- 
trict, not slaves, under the actual control of a 
loyal master in his district ; (and in all questions 
arising as to freedom or slavery of any colored 
person, the presumption shall be that the man, 
woman or child is free or has claimed protection 
of the military authorities of the United States, 
which entitles the claimant to freedom;) to cause 
an accurate census to be taken of colored in- 
habitants in' his district, and their employments; 
to cause all to be provided with necessary 
shelter, clothing, food and medicines. To see 
that all able to work shall have some employ- 
ment, and that such employment shall be indus- 
triously pursued ; to see that in all contracts for 
labor or other things made by the negroes with 
white persons, the negro is not defrauded, and 
to annul all contracts madeby the negro which 
are unconscionable and injurious, and that such 
contracts as are fulfilled by the negro shall be 
paid ; to take charge of all lands and all prop- 
erty allotted, turned over, or given to the use of 
the negroes, whether by government or by 
charity ; to keep accurate accounts of the same, 
and of all expenditure ; to audit all accounts of 
the negroes against government, and to have all 
proper allowances made as well to the negro as 
the government ; and to have all claims put in 
train for payment by the government ; to keep 
accurate accounts of all expenses of the negro to 
the government, and of his earnings for the gov- 
ernment ; to see that the negroes who have 
wrought on land furnished by the government 
on shares, shall have their just portion, and to 
aid in disposing of the same for the best good of 
the negro and government ; and to make quar- 
terly returns and exhibits of all accounts of mat- 
ters committed to them ; and to hold ail mou -yg 
arising from the surplus earnings of the negro 
over the expenditures by the United States, tor 
the use and benefit of the negroes, under orders 
from these head-quarters. 

XII. It appearmg to the commanding general 

that some of the labor done by the negroes in this 

jspartment remains unpaid — some tor the space 

6f more than two years, ■although contracts were 



174 



APPENDICES. 



duly made by the proper officers of the govern- 
rrient for the paymeat thereof — whereby the faith 
of the negro ia the justice of the government is 
impaired, and the trust in its protection is 
weakened, it in ordered, that each superintendent 
shall be a commissioner, to audit all such ac- 
counts, procure evidence of their validity, make 
out accurate p;iy-rolls, and return the same, so 
that they may be presented for adjustment to the 
proper departments. Provided, however, that 
no sale of any such claim against the govern- 
ment shall be valid, and no payment shall be 
made of any such claim, except in hand to the 
person actually earning it — if he is within this 
department — or to his legal representative, if the 
person earning it be deceased. 

XIII. Religious, benevolent and humane per- 
sons have come into this department for the 
charitable purpose of giving to the negroes secu- 
lar and religious instructions; and this, too, 
without any adequate pay or material reward. 
li is, therefore, ordered, that every officer and 
soldier shall treat all such persons with the ut- 
most respect; shall aid them by all proper 
means, in their laudable avocations ; and that 
transportation be furnished them, whenever it 
may be necessary in pursuit of their business. 

XIV. As it is necessary to preserve uniformity 
of system, and that information shall be had 
as to the needs and the supplies for the negro ; 
and as certain authorizations are had to raise 
troops in the Department, a practice has grown 
up of corresponding directly with the War and 
other Departtnents of the Government, to the 
manifest injury of the service. — It is, therefort, 



ordered, that all correspondence in relation to 
the raising or recruitment of colored troops, and 
relating to the care and control of the negroe,^ 
in this Department, with any official organized 
body or society, or any Department or Bureau 
of the Government, must be transmitted through 
these Head Quarters, as by regulation all other 
Military' correspondence is required to be done. 

XV. Courts Martial and Courts of Inquiry in 
relation to all offenses committed by, or against 
any of the colored troops, or any person in the 
service of the United States connected with the 
care, or serving with the colored troops, shall 
have a majority of its members composed of 
members in command of colored troops, when 
such can be detailed without manifest injury to 
the service. 

All ofiTenses by citizens against the negroes, or 
by the negroes against citizens — except of a high 
and aggravated nature — shall be heard and tried 
before the Provost Court. 

XVI. This order shall be published, and fur- 
nished to each regiment and detached post within 
the Department — a copy for every commanding 
officer thereof, — ^and every commander of a com- 
pany, or detachment less than a company, shall 
cause the same to be read once, at least, to his 
company or detachment ; and this order shall be 
printed for the information of the citizens, once, 
at least, in each newspaper published in the De- 
partment. By command of 

Major-General BtTTLRa. 
R. S. Davis, Jfo/or and AssH Ad^t Gen, 



